The Edmonton Oilers took on the Buffalo Sabres last night, following an excellent Saturday night win. That victory, over one of the top teams from last season, gave them three wins in their last four games. And with Buffalo as the next opponent on deck, reeling, and starting Colten Ellis, this should be an easy win. Wait, hold on, this is the opening monologue that this observer was going to use last month…
Both times that the Oilers have won three out of four this season, their next opponent has been the lowly Sabres. Both times, the Oilers have come out looking unrecognizable from the four-game stretch in question. If Buffalo could just play Edmonton for all 82 games in a season, they could very well win the Stanley Cup.
If not for a furious opening two minutes of the third period, some timely penalty-killing, and late-game Connor McDavid magic, this would have been a very low point of the season. Yet, through a mix of the Sabres being the Sabres, and the Oilers having elite talent, the pain is mitigated. Instead of being the first team to lose to the road Sabres in regulation this season, Edmonton simply loses to them in overtime, like two other teams already did.
Nothing is ever easy for this team, and yet nothing is ever a foregone conclusion. They make you think it’ll be another 5–1 loss, but they always can change scripts on a whim.
The final score:
Oilers lose 4–3 in OT. Just when you have oodles of hope, this team hits you in the family jewels with a football, a la Hans Moleman. At least they get the loser point out of all this, and avoid ignominy.
Here’s the game story, but we’re gonna do it with three affordable Christmas gifts the team could use. It’s that time of year.
Gift idea #1: An alarm clock to blare loud music each morning
If the Oilers were a school-aged kid, they’d be the messy-haired teen who shows up late for opening block at least twice a week, chugging an energy drink. This game was one of those instances, where they slept in, missed the bus, and eventually fell behind in the first period. A tip-in goal on the power play by Josh Doan broke the ice, in the Sabres’ favour.
Oilers on Sportsnet host and icon Gene Principe leaned into an 80’s theme for his broadcast intro. It was to allude to how the Oilers were potting pucks suddenly like this was the 1985–86 NHL season. In the context of this gift idea, maybe the Oilers look to “Back To The Future” in determining what kind of alarm they need.
The late starts to games had been something the Oilers were cutting out of their game over the last four contests. They can’t allow old habits like that to creep into their game, especially in a season where parity reigns supreme. Stop starting games late. Show up on time. Get a better alarm clock.
Gift idea #2: A daily planner, to remember what happened before
Evidently, on this night, this was more than a late-start issue. As the second period dragged on, this was veering into familiar “no-show” territory. Previous times Edmonton has let that happen, it’s snowballed and become a rout on them.
Tage Thompson got the second goal of the game on two occasions. In case you’re wondering how that’s possible, the first one was challenged for a missed hand-pass (thank you, 2019 San Jose Sharks). It was deemed that Alex Tuch punched the puck with his glove before Thompson potted it. Goal comes off the board, thank Gord it’s still 1–0; if the video coaches ever get fired by the current management, we schedule a protest at the Moss Pit.
Evan Bouchard, in true holiday spirit, saw Thompson lose his goal, and felt bad. Evan, it’s alright to be a generous soul at Christmas off the ice. What in the name of Red’s Rec Room are you doing, here?
Buffalo would add another power play tally later on in the period, courtesy of Doan again. The kid has some serious talent, like his dad Shane always had. But for Edmonton, they were forgetting what’s happened before when they continue to make egregious mistakes. Games running away from them, utter routs as final scores.
Fortunately, somebody bought this online, and had it delivered immediately to Rogers Place. It was in the hands of the Oilers players by the time they sat at their stalls in the dressing room, at the second intermission. At least, that’s what this observer assumes happened, because…
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Gift idea #3: A voice recorder, to tape & play motivational speeches
Whatever was said amongst the players in that second intermission needs to be recorded, and saved for future usage. Maybe it was the popular motivational speech from 2006’s “Rocky Balboa”. Maybe it was another “Dig the (eff’) in!” riot-act reading by Connor McDavid. Whatever was said, worked.
McDavid personally got the Oilers on the board just ten seconds into the third period, effectively re-setting the score to start the frame. This gave the same vibe as the home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets last month: McDavid has to be the one to kick-start an Oilers rally. Thank goodness he’s started shooting the puck more these days.
Vasily Podkolzin got the second Oilers goal, still within the space of the opening two minutes of the third. Look what happens when you go to the front of the net. If more players could do this more often, that would be greatly appreciated.
Stuart Skinner was on his way to once again being much-maligned, and some in the fanbase are still going to point at his end-of-game save percentage. Fine and fair; this observer has done that often. But the Oilers don’t complete the rally to tie it, and save at least one standings point, without his brilliance on the five-on-three, especially with his stick save on Tuch.
And then McDavid again, manages to tie it with 1.9 seconds left in regulation, completing the rally. Who cares if he has a ketchup phobia; that condiment is overrated anyway. If it means more performances like this, keep every ketchup bottle and bag of ketchup chips in Edmonton away from him.
What a wild swing that third-period was. Would have been nice if they played like this from the opening face-off. But at least they gave us fans a reason to stay tuned in. They also gave us palpitations throughout, but such is the cost of being a hockey fan in general.
This postgame was a lot more scathing before that third period
Major League Baseball closer Edwin Díaz, who just signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, once played for the Seattle Mariners. There was once a game where the Mariners had a huge lead against the then-Oakland Athletics, nearly entirely blew it, but had a one-run lead in the ninth inning and Díaz gave the A’s nothing upon coming in to close. The fan site Lookout Landing titled their postgame quite creatively, and fittingly.
This observer feels the same way about this game. The Sabres opened a can of kick-butt on the Oilers, then reconsidered, put the can back in the fridge, and Tuch came along and opened it anyway.
To the Oilers’ credit, they did an incredible job of finding a way to tie this game up. This could have been a rout like earlier games in this season, and they prevented such an outcome. But make no mistake about it, Buffalo soundly controlled the opening 40 minutes of play, and Tuch knew exactly where to be on the overtime winner.
That the Oilers got standings points out of this debacle is something we’ve only seen once otherwise this season. This year’s squad hasn’t had the same ability to turn on the turbo engines late in games. They either are engaged from the start, play well early then run out of gas, or no-show altogether. So while it’s still vexing that the Oilers lose to Buffalo for the second time this season, this is one where you take the pity point and run for the hills. The point wasn’t deserved. But at least they found a way to get it despite playing only one period.
Player perspective
“You’d like to play a full 60 (minutes), especially with the way we’ve been trending, it’s been in the right direction; first 40 wasn’t great, but I really liked the group’s pushback.” -Zach Hyman
A home game that feels like a must-win… in December?
If this had been a regulation loss, then certainly the Oilers could not afford a 2–3 home stand, and Thursday night would be must-win. But now Edmonton is guaranteed at least a .500 result of their longest homestand of the season. That said, you’d like to do better than 2–2–1 or even 2–1–2.
The Detroit Red Wings will be the last visitors of this slate of home games, another team the Oilers lost to out East. A win will give the Oilers a 3–1–1 finish, with Jesper Wallstedt being the only reason for a regulation loss. Not the most ideal outcome, but you’ll take 3–1–1 on a five-gamer any time, especially with how the season started for Edmonton.
7:00 PM face-off at Rogers Place. This observer has that night off, and thus will yield the floor to another Oil Rig talent. Enjoy the content they put out!
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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