Saturday Night's Alright

The only thing rarer than getting to watch two live back to back NHL-ish games, is me going out two nights in a row... let alone those nights being Friday AND Saturday. Not that there is anyone stopping me from doing so, it just sounds exhausting and expensive, so typically I don't. But last night, the Jr. Oilers made it all worthwhile and I regret nothing....except maybe the stale $5 popcorn. It came in a bag the size of my wallet.

Yes, they won again in a competitive hockey game. Now, I know these victories are meaningless and in all likelihood, every one of these players, save maybe two, will be playing in either Jr. or the minors this year. But dammit, it's just so nice to see the oil drop come out on the happy side of one goal game! Baby steps, people...

For Saturday nights line-up , the Oilers had removed many of the big guns from the previous game. Centers Leon Draisaitl and Jujhar Khaira and number one defensive pair Darnell Nurse and Martin Gernat all sat in the press-box for the evening. Now, four top stars out of a game is usually cause for concern for most, but for an Oiler fan, it just seems like the typical injury list we get a month into the regular season...Also out were wingers Mitch Holmberg and Jackson Houck. In their stead, forwards Josh Winquist, Alex Krushelnyski, Kyle Platzer, Travis Ewanyk and D-men Graeme Craig and CJ Ludwig. In net Ty Rimmer replaces Laurent Brossoit.

The Calgary flames on the other hand, had their two most likely future stars on the ice in Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett. The rest were a collection of young speedsters and a few goonish lunk-heads. The battle of young Alberta is on!


Game Synopsis In A Few Words:

The first period opens and it's all Calgary, all the time. The Oilers start off a step behind and get consistently overwhelmed by the Flames speed. Luckily for Edmonton, goalie Ty Rimmer was ready at puck drop and was able to make big save after better to keep the team in the game until they were able to stop checking out their collective colon interiors. Shots were 9 - 1 Calgary before the half way mark. Eventually, Calgary gets the first goal to take the lead 1 - 0 on a shot by Gaudreau, assisted by Benett and Hathaway. Fortunately, it's the only lead Calgary would have for the rest of the night.

The Flames take their first penalty of the game to help begin the momentum swing the other way. After some good puck movement between D-men Simpson and Oesterle, Ktyle Patzer scores from the left dot with a lazer beam of a wrister to tie the game at one a piece.

Calgary gets into penalty trouble again towards the end of the first, leading to a 5 on 3 for the Oilers. Defenseman CJ Ludwig makes no mistake with a one-timer from the circle from Roy and Yakimov. The period ends 2 -1 with the shots in favour of Clagary 16 - 9.

The second frame continues with bad penalties taken by the Flames appearing to be more interested in chasing the Oilers around the rink as opposed to playing hockey against them. Both center Yakimov and his sidekick Tkachev start to take over the offense with multiple opportunities off of creative play making and great skating. Eventually, CJ Ludwig gets his second goal of the game off the face-off in the Flames zone. Oilers lead 3 - 1. The multitude of penalties from both sides, disrupts the flow of the period and the Flames only manage 4 shots on goal, leaving the total 21 -20 in favour of the Oilers.

The third period penalty parade continued where it left off in the second. This time, it's the Flames who score the next power play goal, a beauty by Bennett from Gaudreau that was as much determination as finesse on a wrap around. The Oilers still lead by one, 3 - 2.

Then things start getting really nasty. Kale Kessy, doing what he does best by being more irritating than Donald Trump, mixes it up until he gets the fight he's looking for. Then, Yakimov gets charged from behind into the boards. Good news is the hulking Russian hardly even noticed anyone was there. Next up, Oiler center Travis Ewanyk mixes it up with Calgary's Kanzig until they finally drop the gloves. Vladimir Tkachev would then draw the next call after being hauled down on a slick break-away.

On the ensuing power play, Yakimov scores from one knee with a one-timer from Winquist and Tkachev. It would turn out to be the game winning goal as Calgary would get one back with time winding down. Oilers win 4 -3.

Player Highlights:

Player of the game goes to Ty Rimmer. Without his solid play in the first and parts of the third, this game would have been over before it started. Steady throughout the game, Rimmer looked quick with a good glove hand while Calgary bombarded his crease.He looks much more confident than last year and has progressed well. I hope this guy gets an invite to camp next week, he'd look good in a Barons uniform, methinks.

Other noteables: Bogdan Yakimov and Vladimir Tkachev (who I found out has since earned himself an invite to camp next week) were brilliant again on this night. They both created multiple opportunities, skated like lightning and each had a defense splitting break-away at some point in the game. If it wasn't for the poor start in the first, they could have easily been candidates for player of the game...Jordan Oesterle and Dillon Simpson changed my mind about them. They were the number one defense pair for the entire night and looked good distributing the puck. Unfortunately, they both were the cause of a few turn overs and got beat wide by Flames skaters during the aforementioned shaky first period. Eakins must have liked them too because he played the heck out of them... The Jones brothers Kellen and Connor, continued their great work on the penalty kill and were very noticeable on the ice.

Dissappointments: There was no one player that was particularly bad on this night to be noticed exclusively for poor play.  For the most part errors made were by committee and all were guilty at one point or another. It was what players didn't do that caught my attention after the game. After reviewing my notes (I'm trying to try), there were a few absences from sheet. Players from the invisible list were Graeme Craig, Alex Krushelnisky, Ben Betker and Josh Winquist. Yes, I know Winquist assisted on the game tying goal, but he was nowhere to be found for the other 59 minutes of the game...Defense man David Musil is as good a defender as I've read about, but he's as slow as they've reported too. At times the big man looks as though he's skating through taffy...Travis Ewanyk and Kale Kessy are god agitators and fill the role well. Unfortunately, I don't think they have enough hockey ability to progress past the AHL.

Tomorrow, I'll be playing hooky from work to catch the 11:30 am game. I know you're thinking, " How can they fill a building with a Monday morning exhibition?" Trust me, nobody in this town works. Plus the school strike still isn't settled so all of our kids are still at home :) Tomorrow, I'm taking Tkachev...I mean Rowyn with me for the matinee game...