You hate to pin a loss on a single player, because in each game any number of guys can be held accountable for the outcome. Reflecting on the Edmonton Oilers' 5-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night, you might be tempted to spread the blame around to a handful of people. Here's a brief list of the prime suspects:
- Edmonton goaltender Ben Scrivens didn't have a stellar night, stopping 28 of 33 shots, and the team usually requires at least a remarkable performance out of him in order to register a victory.
- Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz pursued the puck out of position on Brent Burns' goal midway through the third period, allowing the Sharks to take advantage of a 2-on-1 in the slot.
- Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins, simply because the Oilers now have six games remaining and will not reach 70 points this season. By any measure, this season has been a massive step backward.
- Oilers forward Matt Hendricks had more than 16 minutes of ice-time. The only time that should happen is when six Edmonton forwards are injured by the first intermission.
- Edmonton defensmen Jeff Petry was weak as John Edwards' moral fiber on the first goal of the night, letting Andrew Desjardins find the puck and an empty net to open the scoring.
Each of those men could share in the responsibility for Edmonton's fifth loss in the last six games, but David Perron overshadows them all. How? Well, to put it simply, he was an absolute bonehead all night long. Perron took his first of three penalties eight minutes into the game, needlessly tripping/shoving/roughing Desjardins 150 feet from the Edmonton net.
Perron's teammates bailed him out during the subsequent San Jose power play, successfully killing the two-minute minor. No harm, no foul, and the game continued along. The Oilers battled back, and Perron had a relatively uneventful night right up until the last eight minutes of the third period. That's when he took dumb to an entirely new level.
With the score tied at four, and optimistic Oiler fans around the globe anticipating an entertaining finale, Perron took a tripping penalty deep in the San Jose zone. It was the type of overzealous play you might expect from a first- or second-year player who's trying to do too much. Perron is a seven-year veteran with more than 400 NHL games under his belt.
The Sharks hadn't scored during any of their previous five power play opportunities on the night. However, you can only dodge so many bullets before you eventually take one in the temple, and that's exactly what happened to the Oilers during Perron's second trip to the sin bin. It only took eight seconds for the Sharks to take a 5-4 lead.
Undeterred by Perron, the Oilers began to work for the equalizer. However, Perron's stupidity tank was far from empty. Less than four minutes later #57 struck again, taking his third penalty of the night and all the wind out of his team's sails. It almost seemed as if Perron realized that the Oilers had a shot at victory, and took it upon himself to help the team tank.
Perron's blunders were baffling because of the timing of his penalties, but also the nature of them - particularly the last one. His final offense of the night was a hooking penalty that prevented a shot on goal. Which San Jose sniper saw his scoring chance negated by Perron's stick? James Sheppard, who has four goals this season in 61 games.
Just to give you an idea of exactly how moronic Perron's hooking penalty was, Sheppard has a shooting percentage of 5.1 percent this season. You know who else has a shooting percentage of 5.1 percent? Philip Larsen. Imagine the level of confidence you have when Larsen is taking a shot on goal, and then ask yourself whether Perron needed to hook Sheppard to neutralize him.
The Oilers made things interesting in the final minute, but couldn't produce any late-game heroics to make up for Perron's penalties. In the end, the result was frustrating because the mistakes were so avoidable, and it was the kind of performance that makes you take a look at a guy and question whether he's part of the plan long-term. You hate to pin it all on Perron, but there's just no way to avoid it after the goofs and gaffes we saw Tuesday night.
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