Game 43 review – At least it’s a point

Last night certainly wasn’t the easiest night to pay really close attention to the Oilers. With a Canadians and Americans playing for World Junior gold my attention was, for the most part, focused elsewhere. Fortunately for me the bar I was at was showing both games so I could at least see replays from the Oilers/Coyotes game until the gold medal game came to an end.

Phoenix grabbed the lead off a neutral zone faceoff with both team playing a man short. For some reason the Oilers lined up with players at all three forward positions and the lone back man against the boards leaving the centre of the ice wide open. When Vrbata was missed off the draw he simple picked up the lose puck and skated in all alone; 1-0 Phoenix.

In the second period the Coyotes extended the lead to 2-0 thanks to poor rebound control from Deslauriers. When bad angle shots are simply kicked into the slot by the goalie they will end up in the back of the net more often than not. If Doan is the man in the crease it’s a near certainty. That would be the case here as well.

But the Oilers bounced back. First Brule scored with time running out on a powerplay. The shot came from just off the half wall to Bryzgalov’s right. The goal wasn’t great beating Bryzagalov through the five hole; my bet would be that he’d like to have that one back. Then the Oil tied it up at two on the beautiful breakaway from O’Sullivan that finished with a top shelf backhand.

As is so often the case with the Oilers of late though, the good times were short lived. First came an ugly goal through the five hole from Hanzal that Deslauriers needs to stop, followed by a goal by Prucha to reestablish the Coyotes two goal lead. On the fourth goal Nilsson turned the puck over at the blue line, it was fired across to Prucha who fired a onetimer that Deslauriers had no chance of stopping.

With the Oilers already coming back from two goals down and Team Canada having done the same a third comeback would have seemed like a stretch but believe it or not it happened. The Oilers did catch a break when a Phoenix goal that would have mage the score 5-2 was disallowed for reasons I still can’t figure out. The referee told the fans that there was no interference but also no goal. I’m not sure how that works but I’ll take it.

In the third period the Oilers got goals from Grebeshkov and Penner. The Grebeshkov goal was the result of hard work by Gagner in the corner to force a turnover. Penner’s goal was just a garbage goal that he banged in while standing in the blue paint. And just like that it was tied at four and we’re headed to overtime.

In the extra frame Pisani got whistled for a tripping penalty. Yeah I guess it was a penalty but in extra time when the result is a 4 on 3 it was a tough one to swallow. Tougher still was on the penalty kill when Smid lost his stick resulting in what is essentially a 4 on 2 ½. The result was about what you expect; Doan ripped a shot from the point that Deslauriers just had no chance to stop and the Coyotes win 5-4.

The loser point might not be what the Oilers wanted when they worked so hard to tie it up but when a team has just two points in their last ten games I’d be willing to bet that they’ll take points wherever they can find them.

Even though they lost the game the Oilers showed some grit and character in twice battling back from a two goal deficit. There were other positives too, O’Sullivan played a good game for the first time in a long time, Gagner played great registering an assist and seven shots, and Penner ended a six game goalless drought.

Up next for the Oilers is a game against fellow cellar dweller the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.