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3 Oilers All-Stars + Thoughts on the Best Game of the Season |
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Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Stuart Skinner are all NHL All-Stars. At the beginning of the year, if you were told the Oilers netminder was an All-Star we would have all assumed it was Jack Campbell who went to the All-Star game in 2022. As I wrote out yesterday though, Stuart Skinner has had an unbelievable season and is arguably the best goaltender in the Pacific Division. McDavid and Draisaitl once again lead the NHL in points and of course both deserve to be going to the game.
While it's easy to be pretty jaded about the All-Star game, one has to appreciate that for a guy like Stuart Skinner, this is a dream come true. Not only has he become the goalie of the NHL team he grew up cheering for, but he also gets to represent that team by being told he has been one of the player players this season. It's a huge honour and I hope McDavid and Draisaitl both make it an unforgettable experience for him.
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Moving onto the game against the Lightning that was easily the most entertaining Oilers game of the season. It might not have been the most complete game that Edmonton has played but it had everything; fights, goals, big hits, controversy, and some legitimate animosity between two extremely talented teams.
Ryan McLeod got the team on the board first by tipping home a great little wrister by Vincent Desharnais who now has 3 points in his first 5 NHL games. Desharnais continues to be a breath of fresh air in the lineup, standing guys up at the blueline and unafraid to lay a big hit but still remains positionally sound. The added offense right now is a nice bonus but I don't expect him to put up 3 points every 5 games for the remainder of the season.
After that goal, things started to get a little chippy. Patrick Maroon took a penalty for what was essentially a slewfoot on Connor McDavid and should have received a second penalty right after for an extra elbow on the play. This would begin some of the shenanigans that would follow the team the rest of the game. Edmonton's powerplay would make no mistake as McDavid would find Draisaitl for the open net against Vasilevskiy.
Then things got weird. Nikita Kucherov hit Evander Kane from behind, Kane trips Kucherov as he gets up and then Bogosian jumps Kane and the two push at each other before Nurse and others get involved. The play was reviewed by Toronto and I expected it was to see if the hit from behind by Kucherov was a 5 minute major. It turns out they were reviewing if Kane kicked Kucherov as a major but ruled that he didn't, instead penalizing the Oilers 2 minutes for tripping. After the dust settled, somehow Kucherov would walk away unscathed from the penalty box. It was a trend that continued all game.
At the end of the period, Corey Perry engaged Nurse for a fight and while it was entertaining, I don't think Nurse should have taken the fight. Edmonton was in control of the game on the scoreboard and the Lightning were doing what they could to try and get back into it. Trading the defenseman who logs the most minutes for a fourth line guy is an easy tradeoff for Tampa.
The second period would see this come to pass as the Lightning started to take over, specifically their own top end players. Before any hockey got played, the period would start off with Klim Kostin holding his own and getting a few shots in against Patty Maroon. The pace was set. Early in the period the Lightning would come with numbers and while Campbell was able to make the initial stop, Hagel was able to push it home. Zach Hyman would score his own similar goal shortly after, picking up his own rebound and sniping it past Vas.
After that the Lightning pushed back hard with the Point, Stamkos, Kucherov line scoring two really nice goals. The first was just an unloaded shot by Stamkos which I wish Campbell could have gotten completely in front of. The second was just a perfect tic tac toe tip play by Brayden Point.
Late in the period, Kucherov would get away with another trip against Brett Kulak but Puljujarvi goes off on the same play for a slash. Some time after that Kucherov would get called with a high-sticking call but so would Warren Foegele for embellishment (deservedly so). I don't get to see much of the Lightning play so I forgot how Kucherov is able to seemingly get away with murder out there.
But in the third period the Oilers came right back. Early in the period McDavid would do McDavid things and streak in alone cutting to the net and putting the Oilers up 4-3. Through the remainder of the period they did an excellent job at limiting the Lightning's chances and preventing any of their top players from gaining any traction. Add a Zach Hyman empty net goal and you have a 5-3 final.
Right before the end of the game, Stamkos refused to touch the puck after the Lightning took a penalty, letting time tick down. In the final few seconds of the game, Evan Bouchard wired a couple shots towards the net to the ire of the Lightning players. I loved it. The Tampa players were taking petty shots all night and immediately went to the refs any time something was called against them. I love seeing some good ol' fashioned animosity and two team actively disliking one another. McDavid and Hyman were laughing as they saw Bouchard winding up. Kane and Nurse were all smiles as Kostin came to the penalty box at the start of the second period. It was great to see all the guys out there having fun and looking after one another.
Big shoutout as well to Jack Campbell who in the month of January, is 6th among goalies with a 5 on 5 SV% of 0.908%. He hasn't been perfect but he is giving the team a chance to win games and is clearly more confident right now than he was a month ago. Edmonton needs both their goalies going for the remainder of the season.
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Edmonton is now only three points behind the Kraken and Golden Knights who are both tied for the Division lead and are four points up on the Calgary Flames. There is plenty of runway left and the Oilers, after an abysmal December are once again in the conversation for not just making a playoff spot, but to win their division.
Thanks for reading!
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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