I can’t believe that I’m reading there are fans who are mad that the Edmonton Oilers won that game against Toronto with a defensive display that would’ve had Jacques Lemaire grinning from ear-to-ear. Well, it wasn’t that good. The Oilers did get lucky on a number of occasions from posts to pucks that squeaked through only to roll wide to Jason Spezza forgetting how to put a puck in the wide-open net.
All of that said, Edmonton shut down the Maple Leafs’ potent forward attack and got some clutch defending and netminding. They ground out a win and didn’t play into Toronto’s hands by looking for a high-scoring affair.
A few of my observations,
- It was nice to have Ethan Bear back in the lineup, but I did notice he had a rough time making a tape-to-tape pass. Maybe it was nerves, but if he’s going to pull what he did this off-season contract-wise and then come to camp late, he has to be better on the ice. That pass to McDavid right before the end of the second period was quite nice though.
- Alex Chiasson is a bit of a polarizing figure amongst Oilers fans to the extent that some losers started a petition to get him off of Edmonton’s 1st unit PP as if that was going to work and it wasn’t a cry for attention… He had his best game of the season and on two instances nearly had a goal.
- Zack Kassian is having himself one helluva go. He’s not been the same person we grew to know and love for some time now and I’m starting to wonder if he’s checked out. He’s got a young family now and maybe the passion just isn’t there anymore. If it was, that puck battle he lost to Auston Matthews on the Leafs’ only goal, he wouldn’t have lost it.
- Although, after that gift to Matthews, he was a much better player. Kinda wish he hadn’t have rung that puck off the crossbar though. For his sake. It would’ve taken a ton of pressure off of him.
- Jesse “The Pulverizer” Puljujarvi, right? His hit on Mitch Marner in the 3rd period was nothing short of glorious. It wasn’t just that though, his forechecking forced a turnover in the 2nd period that allowed Darnell Nurse to gobble up the puck and dish it off to RNH for one of his better chances on the evening. Pulju’s net-front presence on the PP also netted him an assist on Leon Draisaitl’s goal as Nuge’s shot went off of his foot right to the snake-bitten German.
- Speaking of hits, Darnell Nurse was a little bit surly in that game. He nearly took Mitch Marner’s head off in the first and then had to let up on Zach Hyman in the third. Imagine a defender like Scott Stevens seeing Hyman come across the blueline like that back in the day? Nighty night Zachy-boy…
- Was it just me or were the Leafs targeting Mikko Koskinen’s glove hand? God forbid the Oilers get a goalie who has a really good glove… That might solve some issues. Then again, Koskinen has a better save percentage than Carey Price right now…
- Josh Archibald as a GD hitting machine! I love when he gets into his flow and simply nails everything within reach to the boards. He’s what I call a “disruptor”. He gets in on the other team’s puck carriers and disrupts the other team’s attempts to move the puck.
- The Oilers have four of them now, I’d say. Joakim Nygard, Jesse Puljujarvi, Archibald, and Yamamoto. One commonality, speed, and fearlessness.
- I knew once the team came out of the second period safely that the game was more or less in hand. Even after Matthews had scored and Toronto got a boost, I felt secure that Edmonton would come away with the two points.
- It’s funny how the goals come when you get shots on the net AND have bodies nearby for the rebounds.
My Three Stars:
- Mikko Koskinen – Had a .967 save percentage and made the saves when required but just happen to let in one questionable shot. I feel like you can give a goalie at least one mulligan, but the rest he’s got to have if it’s in his power to get to them. The Leafs were sending in point shots just like Chicago was doing in the play-ins last year but this time the Finn wasn’t letting them through. That glove save with the added windmill celly on Matthews was something. I dug that little bit of showmanship.
- Kailer Yamamoto – I’m not sure how much longer Yamo can be this club’s top player but I hope he has about 70 games in him. You see, when a player gets in the muck and isn’t afraid of the potential consequences, they’re going to get some dirty goals and if that’s not what the doctor ordered for this club last night, I don’t know what is. I think his quickness and tenacity really deceives the big d-men on the other teams because they expect the puck battle to be short but Kailer stays in the fight until he physically can’t compete for it anymore or until he has possession.
- Adam Larsson – I hear a lot of complaining about The Iron Swede’s puck-moving lately and I re-watched the game last night and I didn’t notice him ringing the puck around the boards or clearing it off the glass to escape trouble much. The times he did were on the PK and when there were forwards waiting for it… He might’ve actually made one of the better two-zone passes in the second period when he caught the Leafs on a change and launched a streaking Oilers winger from his own hash-marks. He was unforgiving vs. Toronto and has apparently taken over as shot-block king from Kris Russell.
Next up, another date with the Leafs!
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