The Edmonton Oilers, trailing 3-2 to the Vancouver Canucks, had three shots on goal in the final 10 minutes of Saturday’s loss. Jeff Petry had a slapshot from 83 feet out with 7:17 remaining, Mark Arcobello put a backhander on net from 43 feet away with 4:20 to go, and Petry had another slapper from 78 feet with 2:04 on the clock. That’s a total disaster. Three shots from a combined distance of more than the entire rink shows inadequate effort, incompetent coaching, and insufficient urgency.
Let’s put this in perspective, so people realize how horribly the Oilers wilted down the stretch. Their most dangerous shot in the last 10 minutes of a home game, down by a goal, against a division rival, at the end of a seven-game homestand, was a 43-foot backhander from the team’s third-line centre. Now, 43 feet is about 13 meters. In 1995, the U.S. National Standards for School Transportation ruled that no school bus could be more than 40 feet long. Picture a school bus. Try not to barf.
The Oilers played worse as the night went along. They came out flying, laying the body and applying pressure, and the first period was their best of the season. Finally, it seemed, they were producing the gritty, sustained effort that would make them difficult to play against. A late goal by the Canucks evened the score, 1-1, but the Oilers had controlled the first period. Unfortunately, that was as good as things would get for Edmonton on Saturday, and perhaps as good as it will ever get this season.
Taylor Hall played the first 15 seconds of the second period before slamming into the post and limping off the ice. After a few moments on the bench he went to the dressing room. The Oilers were never the same without him, and the ice gradually tipped in Vancouver’s favor. Linden Vey bulled Brad Hunt out of the way, depositing a rebound to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead. David Perron lit the fading lantern just over a minute later to even the score, but the Oilers couldn’t snatch any momentum and run with it.
Ben Scrivens took the Oilers out behind Rexall Place and shot them four minutes into the third period. Inexplicably, he played the puck directly to Derek Dorsett for a shorthanded goal that stunned everyone in attendance and watching around the world. Giving up the shorthanded goal broke the Oilers. They only had five shots on goal over the game’s last 16 minutes, with three in the final 10. The Oilers just didn’t have any pushback late in the game and couldn’t find a way to get close to the Canucks goal.
Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins was asked about that after the game, saying, “We were pushing the envelope too much to try and enter under control. Those are times they’re sitting back, we’ve gotta lay it in behind them and set up our offense in behind them. It’s probably about the only thing in the game that I really look at and concerned me greatly. When those teams back up you’ve gotta lay that puck in behind them and go get it.” Easy solution, but it points to poor coaching and execution.
Oil Spills
- We can throw the loss at Scrivens’ feet, and he’s proving with his rebound control, decision-making and puck movement that’s he’s not a legitimate starting goaltender. However, you’re not going to win many games when you only score two goals. The Oilers didn’t take advantage of power plays, couldn’t muster any momentum, and looked completely gassed in the closing minutes. Scrivens was the prime culprit on a bad goal, but it was a team loss and the players in front of him didn’t respond effectively.
- Andrew Ference won the hearts of Oiler fans, demolishing Zack Kassian with a high hit in the second period. The payback is a long time coming after Kassian busted Sam Gagner’s jaw in the preseason last year. It warranted a penalty, but the play shouldn’t draw a suspension. First of all, Kassian popped back up immediately, so there's no injury to take into account. Second, I realize that the NHL Department of Player Safety takes head hits seriously, but it’s Kassian. No brain, no concussion.
- Do you know why I don’t trust Craig MacTavish? Because Brad Hunt plays NHL hockey games when Nikita Nikitin (or any other Oilers defenceman) is injured. Maybe a Ference suspension would be good for the Oilers, so Oscar Klefbom gets to prove that he’s a better option than Hunt, who’s a fun little fellow but can’t defend NHL players. He was on the ice for Vancouver’s first two goals, and had about as much potency as a silent fart on the second one. The experiment is over, time for him to go.
- TSN’s Ryan Rishaug is reporting that Hall left the rink without any crutches or a brace. That’s terrific news, because if the Oilers’ star left winger misses any time you can kiss the season goodbye. I don’t just mean “ooh, we might not finish 12th in the West” I mean “time to become Sabres and Canes fans, because it’s McDavid or bust.” Hall has been in on 10 of Edmonton’s 29 goals this season, providing the team’s most consistent scoring threat. In short, there’s simply no replacing him.
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