Scoring Summary
1st Period
EDM Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 17 (Jordan Eberle) 10:12
EDM Jordan Eberle 31 (Teemu Hartikainen, Jeff Petry) 15:18
2nd Period
CGY Mark Giordano 8 (Unassisted) 12:24
3rd Period
EDM Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 18 (Ryan Jones, Jordan Eberle) 9:25
Penalty Summary
1st Period
1:18 Calgary roughing - 2 min C. Sarich drawn by R. Whitney served by G. Desbiens
1:18 Edmonton roughing - 2 min R. Whitney drawn by C. Sarich
1:18 Edmonton roughing - 2 min R. Whitney drawn by C. Sarich served by J. Eberle
17:47 Calgary holding - 2 min M. Giordano drawn by C. Potter
2nd Period
2:50 Calgary tripping - 2 min A. Tanguay drawn by J. Eberle
8:42 Edmonton slashing - 2 min A. Hemsky drawn by M. Giordano
8:42 Calgary slashing - 2 min M. Giordano drawn by A. Hemsky
3rd Period
3:27 Calgary roughing - 2 min S. Baertschi drawn by T. Hartikainen
10:53 Edmonton cross checking - 2 min A. Hemsky drawn by B. Comeau
10:53 Calgary cross checking - 2 min B. Comeau drawn by A. Hemsky
15:57 Calgary tripping - 2 min A. Babchuk drawn by L. Petrell
16:17 Calgary tripping - 2 min D. Moss drawn by C. Potter
19:54 Calgary tripping - 2 min J. Iginla drawn by R. Nugent-Hopkins
Shots On Goal - Oilers 25 Flames 19
Game Notes:
- Big win for the Oilers. Bigger loss for the Flames. The Oilers seemed to have stumbled into doing things the right way and everyone knowing their roles and playing them at a high capacity. Oilers look to be ending the year the same way they started it, on a positive note. Its those 4 months in the middle that led to their demise. The Oilers need to play like this in order to have any success at all with the way their team is built. Problem is, having a smaller forward corps, its difficult to play with high tenacity, game in, game out. What eventually happens to the Oilers is when fatigued starts to hit, they get squeezed out of games. They need to find ways to win games through smarts. They brought both tenacity and smarts tonight, but there will be games where the legs aren't there and they will have to find a way to win games through guile. The Oilers kept the shot total way down tonight. Flames had only 19 shots, a byproduct of a fatigued Flames team and an Oilers team ready to play. Dubnyk played well again tonight. Has only given up 1 goal in the last 2 starts. I'm still not convinced he's a starter, as when the Oilers can't keep the shot totals down, Dubnyk seems to get fatigud and lose focus. I don't think Dubnyk has the ability to be a 50 game starter, but I think he is a good plan B backup. The Oilers will have to make a decision on Khabibulin or Dubnyk when the season ends. The cannot go forward with both. Problem is Khabibulin has one year left on his deal and Dubnyk is set to become an RFA. It will require some eating of salary if the Oilers want to retain Dubnyk and send Khabibulin away. Taylor Hall was on the receiving end of a KO hit from Cory Sarich moments into the game. He left the game with a concussion and did not return.
Player of the Game:
- Jordan Eberle. It was the Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins show. These two mized in with either Teemu Hartikainen or Ryan Jones, were by far, the best line on the night. They really created offense and applied pressure every shift they were out there. Eberle scored on a beauty of a snipe and had a couple of assists on Nugent-Hopkins' goals. It is such a treat to watch Jordan Eberle when he is executing at the highest level.
Goat of the Game:
- Ales Hemsky. He looks like such a fish out of water on this team. Like he's the "before" on those "before" and "after" pictures. Since the Oilers have re-invested in Hemsky for two more years as a 2nd line player, it would be wise to invest in a shooting center for him, either a Jarret Stoll or a Jason Arnott type. Otherwise, I'd ship him out ASAP and pretend the signing was a mistake. Hemsky is trying to play more of a power forward type game because its what the team really needs from him, but thats like trying to turn a cat into a dog. Hemsky and Gagner were the only minus players for the Oilers on the night, each -1.
Next Game - Sunday March 19, 2012 vs. Coyotes @ Rexall Place on Sportsnet West 6 PM MT.
No comments:
Post a Comment