For some reason the Canucks and the Oilers met midseason tonight to battle over playoff contention. I didn’t expect this, you didn’t expect it, and I’m not sure the players did either. But here we are, with the Canucks still within arms reach of a playoff spot, and the Oilers still confounding everyone with their ability to struggle.
It’s a surprise, to be sure – but a welcome one. While prudence tells us the Canucks’ rebuild is far from over and most fans started the season dreaming of Jack Hughes, the idea of leapfrogging the McDavid-led Oilers back into relevance is absolutely irresistible.
And tonight’s game really mattered to the players. Energized, physical, passionate hockey is just fun to watch.
For whatever reason, I really got into it. Sometimes it’s nice to just cheer for your underdog team as they face off against… another… underdog…? The Oilers are an underdog too, right? Just in a different way.
It’s like, the Canucks are the dog that tears up the living room sometimes, but the Oilers are the one that obsessively eats its own shit.
Period by Period:
First: The Oilers outshot the Canucks in the first, but there was no shortage of opportunities for either team. Special teams were decisive here, with the Canucks both scoring and allowing a goal on the man advantage, and the Oilers also capitalizing with an extra gentleman on the ice. Edmonton finished with 12 shots to Vancouver’s 5.
Second: More hits, penalties, and goals. Well, one more goal. The Canuck’s forecheck continued to frustrate the Oilers but both teams struggled to actually get many pucks on net. The two teams finished with 6 shots a piece.
Third: As tends to happen, both teams played a slightly more reserved game in the third. Presumably, each squad got an intermission message to keep mistakes and penalties to a minimum.
It was a pretty boring period, but at least Del Zotto got traded.
Overtime: Some absolutely manic moments in OT tonight:
This whole thing starts with Jake muscling off McDavid’s attempt to drive the net.
Shootout: Markstrom was amazing. The Canucks’ shooters weren’t. That’s the shootout.
Oilers Goals:
First: Khaira scores the most EANHL goal ever. Just spin around and around until there’s an opening, cut in and then roof it.
Second: The second PK unit actually had a fantastic shift just preceding this, but when McDavid has the puck in the neutral zone and you go for a line change, you are asking for trouble. Tanev and co. don’t have time to set up. McDavid carries the puck in and somehow scores.
Horvat:
Horvat couldn’t buy a goal this game despite some nice opportunities and some typically solid plays. You could see the frustration build as the game went on. This miss in particular was just brutal to watch:
He really was a part of several high danger opportunities:
And he nearly ended the game in OT with a gorgeous move:
On another night, like against the Bruins at home earlier this season, Bo would have scored that goal. We’d all be talking about his strength, his ascendancy to leadership, and his indefatigable determination. But this is a game of inches, and he was just a couple inches from heroics tonight.
No matter; those moments will continue to come.
Granlund:
Hmm. If he’s got 2 goals in 2 games, I should probably give Granlund a bit of credit. He does a nice job of finishing here after a nice bit of forechecking from Schaller + Leivo on a Stecher dump-in:
The trio generated a very similar opportunity shortly after, except this time it just resulted in your typical jam-at-the-puck-jam-at-the-puck-jam-at-the-puck scrum in front of the net.
That’s more like it.
I’m not going give this a separate section, but Granlund’s linemate Leivo also gave of one of the fanciest moments of the night.
Look at those moves.
Motte:
I am big fan of the way Motte won himself a spot on this team in the pre-season, and he puts in a pretty consistent “good 4th line performance.” He just doesn’t produce a lot of highlights, so I don’t have much to show here. I wanted to give him some mention regardless.
Gudbranson:
Erik showed off some his physicality tonight, making some hard plays early.
Then he absolutely destroyed Jones in the third.
Hutton:
Huttsy Bo Buttsy doesn’t even need to be standing up to shut down McDavid.
But seriously, Hutton was robbed of a gorgeous goal on a coach’s challenge (the puck was offside earlier on.)
The shot is great, but really his puck movement and passing on this play stands out just as much. Too bad it was all for naught.
Boeser:
Brock looked pretty confident out the gate, creating a nice opportunity for himself early in the first.
While I’ll never criticize creativity, sometimes you’d like to see him shoot.
He’s missing Pettersson as much as anyone.
Virtanen:
Before I say anything, this sequence is a great display of Jake’s toolkit in action:
He flips the puck out, chases it down, bodies two Oilers off it and sends a nice centering pass to Sutter. If he’d pounded 15 Old Milwaukees and crushed a McGangbang on this shift, it would have been the perfect demonstration of his talents. Really nice.
Tonight was an important night for Jake. He was stuck on the Sutt-down line with Roussel and Sutter, and that that meant big tough minutes for the big tough boy from Abbotsford.
I’ve mentioned before that this line is kind of a mixed blessing for him; on one hand, it means he has completely earned Green’s trust and is developing the defensive side of his game. On the other hand, it doesn’t exactly mean a lot of offensive opportunities.
That said, the trio were fast and effective in the first. Effective forechecking created a solid chance early, and he was instrumental in the play leading up to Sutter’s powerplay goal.
Nice puck recovery, movement and passing on that shift – not to mention the screen. I like what I’m seeing out of him on the powerplay.
He also nearly ended the game just before overtime with a great burst of speed.
While his scoring has dried up recently compared to the Shotgun Jake days earlier this season, it still feels like we are inching closer and closer to his true breakout moment. Either way, I particularly enjoyed his contributions tonight in what was overall a great game.
Next game: Friday, January 18 vs. Buffalo – Battle of the Expansion Twins
Pacific Hockey 