Thursday, January 24, 2013

Post Game: Game #3 Oilers 2 Kings 1 (OT)

1ST PERIOD
No Scoring

2ND PERIOD
LA Carter 1 (Clifford) 13:26

3RD PERIOD
EDM Yakupov 2 (Hall, J.Schultz) 19:55

OT
EDM Gagner 1 (Nugent-Hopkins, J.Schultz) 3:01 PP

Los Angeles
Jonathan Quick 37/39

Edmonton
Devan Dubnyk 30/31


Game Notes:
- Wow. The game had it all. The questionable (at best) reffing, the look of defeat being near, the mad dash at the end, the questionable tying disallowed goal with a minute left to go, the payoff goal with 5 seconds to go in the game, and then the overtime winner. Wildness was the theme of the last two minutes of the game and overtime. Just trying to absorb it all in something I'm trying to do as I'm typing this. Besides winning the game, the Oilers did a lot of things a heckuva lot better than they did against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. The defense did a much better job clogging up the defensive slot. Other than the breakaway goal from Carter, the Kings were not getting any gimmies tonight. In thrid period, I was starting get worried. The will of the Oilers was starting to wane for large stretches of the 3rd period, a sign from Oilers past that they were getting ready to wave the white flag. Then the Kings ran into serious penalty trouble at the end of the third period and the Oilers found one last gasp of pressure to mount a comeback. The game was thought to be tied by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with a minute left to play but was deemed that Sam Gagner had interfered with the goaltender therefore waving off the goal. That setup the heroics for Nail Yakupov to tie the game with 5 seconds to go in the game and Sam Gagner winning it in overtime. On a side note, was impressed with Dubnyk tonight. Looked strong and comfortable. The defense and Dubnyk were in sync all night. For the first time in quite some time, I can safely say the Oilers snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. A real turning point kind of moment for the young Oilers. The next stage for the Oilers to overcome is mental toughness and not to give up on a game so easily. They persevered this time and they can persevere again.

Player Of The Game:
Nail Yakupov RW -  Even before Yakupov tied up the game, I thought he was the Oilers best hope to tie up the game. He had great speed going through the neutral zone and seemed very into the hockey game. While the kid line faded down the stretch in the third period, Yakupov kept his nose to the grindstone, kept plugging away, kept trying to make things happen. Looked like the heroics was going to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins but his goal was ultimately disallowed. Yakupov didn't show that aura of frusteration or quit on the game like we have seen from some of the Oilers past. Sam Gagner deserves some kudos for potting the winner and having fantastic bounce back. Dubnyk as well, for having a strong bounce back game.

Goat Of The Game:
Nick Schultz D - Kind of a soft GOTG but Nick Schultz had two blunders on play that allowed the Kings to score their only goal of the game. First, he gave away the puck at the blueline leading to an odd man rush, but then instead of trying to defend a 2 on 1, tried to intercept the puck and it ended up in a breakaway for Jeff Carter. All in all, it was a very clean game for the Oilers defensively. Dubnyk faced more shots than he should mainy because their were a lot of powerplays in this oddly called game.

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