Post Game: Game #78 Kings 4 Oilers 1

Scoring Summary
1st Period
LA Anze Kopitar 25 (Dwight King, Dustin Brown) 0:52

EDM Jordan Eberle 33 (PP) (Jeff Petry, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) 1:34

LA Mike Richards 17 (SH) (Willie Mitchell, Matt Greene) 10:48


2nd Period
LA Drew Doughty 10 (PP) (Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar) 6:44


3rd Period
LA Alec Martinez 5 (Matt Greene, Dwight King) 7:45


Penalty Summary
1st Period
1:09 Los Angeles hooking - 2 min M. Greene drawn by R. Smyth
6:22 Edmonton holding - 2 min S. Gagner drawn by D. Doughty
10:05 Los Angeles tripping - 2 min A. Kopitar drawn by J. Eberle
18:25 Edmonton roughing - 2 min R. Jones drawn by J. Stoll

2nd Period
5:01 Edmonton hooking - 2 min R. Nugent-Hopkins drawn by M. Richards
11:15 Los Angeles interference with goaltender - 2 min J. Williams drawn by N. Khabibulin
15:36 Edmonton boarding - 2 min A. Sutton drawn by D. Brown

3rd Period
1:22 Edmonton hooking - 2 min A. Hemsky drawn by A. Kopitar
5:12 Edmonton roughing - 2 min C. Potter drawn by C. Fraser
5:12 Los Angeles slashing - 2 min C. Fraser drawn by C. Potter


Shots On Goal - Oilers 14 Kings 32

Game Notes:
- That game was a disgrace. A total dud. Easiest 2 points the Kings will get this season. I guess as an Oiler follower, we've seen this movie before. I don't know what else to say. As much as I'll miss the Oiers play in the summer time, I'm relieved the season is almost over. Hopefully massive changes are on the horizon. Kings played well enough to win, the Oilers had nothing going on tonight.

Player of the Game:
- Teemu Hartikainen. Mainly because I don't know who else to give the POTG to. Harski had 4 hits and 3 blocked shots. Was one of a few players that looked like they gave a damn tonight. He has looked better and more engaged in his stint with the Oilers this season, not sure if he's a long term fit for the top 6, but he does give the top 6 some much needed muscle.

Goat of the Game:
- Jeff Petry. Petry finds himself as the GOTG for the 2nd game in a row. Had a bouncing puck go by him for the 2nd Kings goal, tipped the 3rd goal by Khabibulin and then left the game halfway through the 2nd because of getting a puck to the face before he could do more damage. Long term prospects for Petry are still pretty good, but its been a rough 2 game stretch for him.

Next Game - Sunday April 1st, 2012 vs. Ducks @ Anaheim on Sportsnet West 6 PM MT.

Pre-Game: Game #78 Oilers vs. Kings

Another day, another game against a team fighting for its playoff life. As for the Oilers, the Oilers are just trying to play out the string and start anew next season. Considering the Oilers have been out of the playoff picture since January, they must be commended on how they have been able to keep the work ethic high even though there has been very little to play for other than pride. The Oilers seem to have brought more consistant efforts throughout the last month, which is a sign that maturity is starting to show on this Oilers squad. Accountibility seems to be a little higher. After the Wednesday night loss to Dallas, the Oilers seemed pretty disappointed in their effort, which didn't seem that poor, just a lack of execution, but its a good sign that they are taking ownership of their play and losing is starting to become unacceptable. They have a ways to go in terms of on ice talent, but they need to implant in their heads that anything less than winning is not going to cut it. Even though the Oilers have had some success as of late, their team seems a bit miscast still. Not enough size in the top 6, not enough offensive ability from the backend, goaltending is still a question mark in my mind, as is the center play, as it comes and goes as it pleases. The Kings are coming off a 3-0 win against the Flames on Wednesday night. The Kings should be hungry to win tonight, they really need this game.

Forwards Oilers
- The Oilers have a more high octane offense but the Kings have better balance.
Defense Kings
- Kings have a good blend of puckmovers and physicality on the backend.
Goaltending Kings
- Jonathan Quick's GAA is microscopic. (1.93)
Special Teams Oilers
- Should be a good battle between the Oilers 2nd ranked PP and the Kings 4th ranked PK.
Coaching Kings
- Darryl Sutter seems to have stabilized the Kings, getting them into the playoff hunt.
Intangibles Kings
- Oilers can't seem to buy a win on home ice after being pretty good for most of the year.

Oilers:
Smyth-NugentHopkins-Eberle
Omark-Gagner-Hemsky
Hartikainen-Horcoff-Jones
Vandevelde-Belanger-Petrell

Smid-Petry
Whitney-Schultz
Sutton-Potter

Dubnyk
Khabibulin

Kings:
Brown-Kopitar-Williams
King-Richards-Carter
Penner-Stoll-Lewis
Clifford-Fraser-Nolan

Scuderi-Doughty
Mitchell-Voynov
Marinez-Greene

Quick
Bernier

Game Time - 7:30 PM MT @ Rexall Place on Sportsnet West.

Post Game: Game #77 Stars 3 Oilers 1

Scoring Summary
1st Period
DAL Michael Ryder 34 (Mike Ribeiro, Stephane Robidas) 11:53


2nd Period
DAL Mike Ribeiro 18 (Loui Eriksson, Michael Ryder) 5:05


3rd Period
DAL Michael Ryder 35 (Mike Ribeiro, Loui Eriksson) 4:11

EDM Ales Hemsky 10 (Ryan Smyth, Corey Potter) 8:21



Penalty Summary
1st Period
6:37 Edmonton slashing - 2 min A. Sutton drawn by S. Ott
13:11 Edmonton boarding - 2 min S. Horcoff drawn by V. Fiddler

2nd Period
8:25 Dallas tripping - 2 min M. Ryder drawn by R. Nugent-Hopkins
14:49 Dallas hooking - 2 min L. Eriksson drawn by S. Gagner
19:52 Edmonton hooking - 2 min S. Horcoff drawn by L. Eriksson

3rd Period
4:51 Dallas hooking - 2 min A. Goligoski drawn by L. Petrell

Shots On Goal - Oilers 32 Stars 25

Game Notes:
- Its a classic case of when one veteran team needs a win more than a young team playing out the string. The veteran team outwaits the youngsters into mistakes and missed assignments and pots those errors into the net. The Oilers played alright tonight, but just couldn't play with enough patience that a Stars team demands that you play with. Its looking to like the Oilers want to play a game with active Dmen, and if they want to play that game, they'll need extremely mobile Dmen. In hindsight, looking at the deal, Schultz for Gilbert, I know why they did it now. Schultz is more mobile, doesn't give much offensively, but more mobile nonetheless. The Oilers will need to keep this thought up, potentially even looking at the draft for one. The Oilers had some chances tonight, but couldn't sustain any pressure on the Stars. Execution was off. Not much more to say about this one other than, only 5 games left to go.

Player of the Game:
- Ryan Smyth. Smyth had an assist, 6 shots on goal and just played an overall pesky game. Smyth stuck his nose in a lot of business. But to be honest, everyone in general was pretty subpar. Just looked like a total lack of general focus, as if all of the sudden, the Oilers realized these games mean very little in the grand scheme of things. Good on Smyth for putting forth a decent effort as he has had a long dry spell of games in being a non-factor. Only he and Hemsky were the only plus players (+1) on the night.

Goat of the Game:
- Jeff Petry. 3 ugly defensive efforts by Petry resulted in 3 Stars goals. Looked very much like a deer in the headlights on these goals. It looked like he got caught on some long shifts and just couldn't get off the ice. Petry has played well for the majority of the season, so I would consider this a blip on the radar. Petry just needs to learn how to manage his icetime better and his teammates need to do a better job of getting pucks deep.

Next Game - Friday March 30, 2012 vs. Kings @ Rexall Place on Sportsnet West 7:30 PM MT.

Pre-Game: Game #77 Oilers vs. Stars

6 games left to go in this wretched season and even though the Oilers are winning as of late, the news just continues to get worse. Taylor Hall will go under the knife to repair a torn labrum that has hampered him over the last few months. Recovery time is expected to be 5-6 months. The injury puts next season's training camp in jeopardy for him. Hall does have a gumby like nature, so his recovery time isn't that of a normal player, but a torn labrum is an injury that is a long, slow injury to recover from with a ton of rehab. Hopefully he will be ready for training camp, but I have my doubts. The Oilers have points in their last 7 games going 5-0-2 in that span. The Oilers have really played some solid hockey despite not having much to play for other than pride. If you combine their October and March records, they would have a mark of 13-6-5. A playoff achieving clip. Something went seriously awry in the months of November, December, January, and February. Either the fix was in and the coaching and management sabatoged their own team or the Oilers truly don't know success if it hit them in the face. The pundits will say that inconsistancy is the mark of the young team. Welp, with the Oilers is the vets that need to find their consistancy. The Stars come into this game losers in Calgary, 5-4, on Monday night. The Stars are anywhere from winning their division to not making the playoffs at all, so needless to say, this is a big game for them. Right now they sit in 7th place. Theo Peckham is also out with a concussion. Taylor Fedun was practising with the team yesterday, wearing a normal practise jersey. That's a tremendous sign, he has come a long way since that horrific leg injury he suffered in training camp. It is unlikely he'll see game action before season's end.

Forwards Oilers
- The injury to Hall hurts, but they still have a couple of other kids that can ramp up the offense.
Defense Stars
- Former Oiler Sheldon Souray having a solid season with 21 points and a +17 rating.
Goaltending Stars
- Kari Lehtonen = Vezina finalist.
Special Teams Oilers
- Oilers powerplay is 2nd while the Stars are 28th.
Coaching Stars
- Stars seem to have the Oilers number for 2 decades now. Styles clash.
Intangibles Oilers
- Oilers should be well rested after having Monday off. Stars are in the middle of a road trip.

Oilers:
Jones-NugentHopkins-Eberle
Hartikainen-Gagner-Hemsky
Smyth-Belanger-Petrell
Hordichuk-Vandevelde-Eager

Smid-Petry
Whitney-Schultz
Sutton-Potter

Dubnyk
Khabibulin

Stars:
Eriksson-Ribeiro-Ryder
Benn-Ott-Burish
Nystrom-Fiddler-Vincour
Morrow-Dowell-Garbutt

Souray-Robidas
Daley-Pardy
Larsen-Goligoski

Lehtonen
Bachman

Game Time - 7:30 PM MT @ Rexall Place on Sportsnet Edmonton.

Post Game: Game #76 Oilers 6 BlueJackets 3

Scoring Summary
1st Period
CLS Mark Letestu 10 (Aaron Johnson) 16:46


2nd Period
EDM Ryan Jones 17 (Ryan Whitney, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) 3:40

CLS Rick Nash 26 (penalty shot) 7:42

EDM Chris VandeVelde 1 (Jordan Eberle, Jeff Petry) 11:40

EDM Ladislav Smid 5 (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ryan Jones) 14:28

EDM Ben Eager 8 (Unassisted) 16:00

EDM Sam Gagner 17 (PP) (Jordan Eberle, Ryan Whitney) 19:29


3rd Period
CLS Derick Brassard 13 (PP) (R.J. Umberger, Rick Nash) 14:22

EDM Eric Belanger 4 (EN) (Ryan Jones, Ladislav Smid) 18:10


Penalty Summary
1st Period
2:13 Edmonton high-sticking - 2 min R. Smyth drawn by D. Dorsett
4:08 Columbus boarding - 2 min R. Nash drawn by T. Peckham
10:28 Edmonton tripping - 2 min S. Gagner drawn by N. Nikitin

2nd Period
1:36 Columbus hooking - 2 min N. Nikitin drawn by J. Eberle
7:42 Edmonton hooking L. Omark drawn by R. Nash
9:39 Columbus slashing - 2 min D. Boyce drawn by E. Belanger
9:39 Edmonton slashing - 2 min E. Belanger drawn by D. Boyce
18:10 Columbus cross checking - 2 min A. Johnson drawn by R. Jones

3rd Period
1:31 Columbus roughing - 2 min D. Dorsett drawn by C. VandeVelde
1:31 Edmonton roughing - 2 min C. VandeVelde drawn by D. Dorsett
1:44 Edmonton hooking - 2 min A. Hemsky drawn by R. Nash
3:48 Edmonton tripping - 2 min C. Potter drawn by R. Umberger
10:37 Columbus high-sticking - 2 min C. Gillies drawn by T. Hartikainen
13:28 Edmonton delaying the game - 2 min T. Hartikainen
17:52 Edmonton slashing - 2 min B. Eager drawn by B. Lebda

Shots On Goal - Oilers 38 BlueJackets 32

Game Notes:
- Oilers took 7 out of 8 points on the road trip by dusting off the Blue Jackets 6-3. Oilers really pushed the pace offensively this game, scoring 5 times in the 2nd period. The Oilers were starting to lose energy in the 3rd period but defensive structure kept them from falling apart. Steve Mason had a rough game for the Jackets as everything the Oilers shot at him seemingly went into the net. A lot of long range shots found twine. Chris Vandevelde scored his first career goal, a feel good moment for him. The Oilers 2nd overall pick in the draft is starting to look in jeopardy. With the win tonight, they tied the Islanders and the Canadiens in the standings. I still think top 5 is inevitable and I'm sure the Oilers will still get the player they covet. The Oilers have had a nice run over the last few and its good to see them finishing strong.

Player of the Game:
- Ladislav Smid. POTG seems to be coming in 2s. For the 2nd game in a row, Smid gets the POTG nod. He was all over the ice today. Chipping in with a goal and an asssist, making countless defensive plays, tied for the shots lead with 4 and finished the night +3. He's come leaps and bounds this year and for me, he's come out of nowhere. A revelation for the Oilers that he has had such a significant impact on this team so quickly.

Goat of the Game:
- Linus Omark. Had zeroes across the board. Caused the penalty shot that eventually led to a goal for Rick Nash. Omark is playing tough and hard but the results aren't there for him right now. as long as he's trying to make some impact anyway he can, he'll be fine. Only he and Peckham were the only minus players on the night, both -1.

Next Game - Wednesday March 28, 2012 vs. Stars @ Rexall Place on Sportsnet Edmonton 7:30 PM MT.

Pre-Game: Game #76 Oilers vs. Blue Jackets

Only 7 games left in the season as the Oilers continue on their cross continental journey, ending this afternoon in Columbus. The Oilers have been playing some fine hockey over the last little bit, having taken points out of the last 6 games, going 4-0-2 in that stretch. The Oilers find themselves slowly inching upward to the 28th spot, 2 points back. In what seemed an impossiblity a couple of weeks ago, looks like a real threat now. At this stage of the game, I think the Oilers have their eye on three players at the draft, so standings really doesn't mean much to them. What's more important is a feeling of going the right way and understanding what it takes to win hockey games. Even in these games that are meaningless, the Oilers are "digging deep" to find a way to make these games mean something. The Oilers defensive posture minus a slip up in Nashville, has been very strong over the last 6 games. Centers are supporting the defense, defense is supporting the goaltender, its how the Oilers need to play to have long term success. The offense will come with this team as they have great individual talent, the key is not cheating on offense at the expense of the defense. Now that the Oilers have decided on keeping Ales Hemsky over the next couple seasons, the Oilers are going to have to manufacture a line around him. A player of Teemu Hartikainen's skillset is one piece as he can be netcrasher/boardwork player on that line as long as he can bring it more often than not. The other piece is a straght up shooting two-way center, something Sam Gagner has struggled on and off with this year. If the Oilers decide to move along Sam Gagner for more of a piece that fits, the Oilers should look the way to a couple of ex-Oilers headed to UFAs, Jarret Stoll and Jason Arnott. The Oilers could use more of a veteran presence down the middle if the wings are going to be young. I think one more veteran center is needed if the Oilers are serious about a playoff push next year. Those two could be the straight up two way shooters that could be used on a line with Ales Hemsky. Columbus is coming off a 5-1 win against Carolina on Friday night. Columbus, much like the Oilers, are playing out the string, having 30th place all but locked up. The Oilers have called up Chris Vandevelde from OKC as Shawn Horcoff is likely out with back spasms.

Forwards Oilers
- With Ales Hemsky playing well as of late, it gives the Oilers a dual threat.
Defense Oilers
- Smid and Petry have done a really nice job of playing the toughs over the last few games.
Goaltending Oilers
- Devan Dubnyk is ending this year like he ended last year, consistantly.
Special Teams Oilers
- Big mismatch. Oilers #2 powerplay against Columbus #30 PK.
Coaching Oilers
- The Oilers seemed to have finally bought into Tom Renney's system, may be too little, too late.
Intangibles BlueJackets
- Weary road legs + afternoon game, may catch up to the Oilers today.

Oilers:
Jones-NugentHopkins-Eberle
Hartikainen-Gagner-Hemsky
Smyth-Belanger-Omark
Eager-Vandevelde-Hordichuk

Smid-Petry
Whitney-Schultz
Peckham-Potter

Dubnyk
Khabibulin

BlueJackets:
Umberger-Brassard-Atkinson
Prospal-Letestu-Nash
Russell-Johansen-Dorsett
Gillies-Boyce-Boll

Moore-Nikitin
J.Johnson-Wisniewski
A.Johnson-Lebda

Mason
York

Game Time - 1 PM MT @ Columbus on Sportsnet West.