Maybe it’s the fact that Dubnyk cost the Oilers the game, maybe it’s because he was written off for dead and nobody wants to give him some love, but nobody is giving that Hemsky goal from the home opener the love and attention it deserves.
Ales Hemsky could have come into the season angry and dejected about what looked like the Oilers giving up on him. It could have been a messy break up, but it wasn’t. He showed up ready to play and is making the best of it. He could have very easily been plunked back down on the 3rd line and left to his own devices (like Yakupov) but Eakins is giving him a shot with Hall. If the other night was a glimpse into what we might be able to see from a healthy Hemsky playing feature minutes again then sign me up for the yearly subscription.
So about that goal…
A few really important things needed to happen for that goal to play out the way it did. Right off the hop Jeff Petry had to win a puck battle in the corners with Andrew Ladd that left the Jets Captain on his rear end. Petry takes a lot of heat for not being overly physical despite his size and he still isn’t here but he uses his body to protect the puck in the corner before he chips it up along the boards to Smyth. Also incredibly important to the play, Ladd (The good Canadian boy and gritty player he is) decides that he doesn’t need to get back to the play at all as it’s going the other way. Note the 25 second mark of the video. Ladd doesn’t even get back to his own zone until Hemsky shoots.
If it was Ladd scoring and Hemsky doing the Journal Sudoku puzzle instead of back checking would we ever hear the end of it?
Next in the sequence Ryan Smyth takes the puck from Petry in good position and quickly moves it over to Hall who is moving the right direction with a little speed. Again, Smyth looked slow last game but the NHL veteran knows where to be and can still make and take a pass. It was a smart move to get it to Hall in mid-flight. Surely the play would have died right away if Smyth attempted to skate with the puck himself. Smyth will factor very importantly into the goal again in a second or two.
Hall has the puck and is moving up the middle of the ice with Byfuglien and Enstrom relatively wide apart. He makes it to center ice and Byfuglien starts to adjust his positioning. The big defender moves to the left which will take some serious time and space away from Hall. Hall immediately dishes to his right and gets the puck to Hemsky who is further up the ice and in full stride. Taylor Hall made a few really poor plays in his first game as a Center in the NHL, but this was not one of them. Like Smyth, Hall will factor into the goal again in a second.
Now Hemsky has the puck on his stick in full flight and with a little bit of room. If you’ve been paying attention since 2001, this is good for the Oilers, bad for anyone who doesn’t want to get Hockey’s version of “Posterized”. He immediately turns left after entering the zone and crosses paths with Hall who continues to drive to the side of the net. Enstrom who had Hemsky is now forced to back away and keep an eye on Hall (which he actually accomplishes for a moment). Blake Wheeler has now entered the picture, he was back checking but the sudden change of direction forces him to spin clockwise 180 degrees. He ends up wildly taking a swing at the puck while on his knees, but is now completely useless.
By this time Ryan Smyth has distracted 3 different players by driving right to the front of the net where he’s made his living for the past 18 years. First Brian Little followed Smyth deep into the Jets defensive zone before finally peeling off and heading towards the slot in a way that makes you think he had blown his coverage. Little gave Hemsky about 10 feet of space and just tried to clog the passing lanes a bit but otherwise didn’t pressure the puck carrier. Second Smyth’s drive to the net forced Byfuglien to defend him in front of Pavelec. Now the entire right side of the Jets defensive zone (from the Jets' perspective) is free for Hemsky. Maybe if Ladd wasn’t doing the hand jive around center ice someone could have stopped number 83. Lastly, Smyth does a fantastic job of screening Pavelec. Note the 35 second mark of the video. Hemsky is alone with the puck and Smyth has positioned himself and all 340lbs of Byfuglien in front of Pavelec.
Now Pavelec is screened with Smyth in front of the net, and to his left Taylor Hall is wide open and ready to accept a pass from Ales Hemsky (who has weaved himself into a great shooting position). In front of the poor guy his entire defense has imploded, assignments blown, Oilers are open in 3 different zones, and his Captain is taking local sick children for fun skates while the game is on. The fact that Ladd is still MIA is compounded by the fact that as one final option for Hemsky, Petry activates and charges towards the net himself (Remember, he was the one who knocked Ladd down in the 1st place).
Despite the myriad of options available to him, Hemsky opts to use his often under-appreciated shot and puck bulges twine.
All told, it took about 10 seconds to unfold from Petry in the corner to Hemsky putting it in the back of the net. Gorgeous.
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