Oilers Beat Avalanche 3-2, Gilbert And Peckham Shine

Hall actually shouted an old Viking incantation beseeching the hockey gods to guide the puck into the back of the net. What, you didn’t think skills like that came naturally, did you?

Hall saw the hole develop the split second Liles decided he needed to pick up his stick more than he needed to fill the passing lane. Eberle saw the same hole, and wham. Right into the net she goes. Beauty.

Sounds to me like what was yelled on the Hall goal was “GO NET!” (as in go to the net, or put it to the net). I also kind of wonder if it was Hall that yelled it. It almost sounded like Eberle yelled it. But it could have been anyone on the ice, although Hall did slap his stick on the ice to call for the puck. Great play.. shades of Gagner/Cogliano “ovverrrtiiiiimmmmeeee winner!” (except before overtime)

The more I watch Smid the more I’m convinced that the Oilers should convince some other team that he’s going to blossom into a great shutdown defencemen and get what they can for him.

I don’t think there is a player in the NHL more unaware of his surroundings than Smid. Two specific plays come to mind last night:

2nd period, the Oilers break out 4 on 3 with three Oiler forwards ahead of Smid (who has the puck). I believe it was 10-14-4 on the ice, and Smid is on the left side of the ice with 10 in the midde and 4 on the LW within about 10 feet of Smid. Eberle is going full tilt on the far side of the ice.

Smid has 3 forwards in front of him going full speed and he carries the puck further forcing all 3 to stop. The Avs player on the left side and the one in the middle converge on that area (3 Oilers, 2 Avs), essentially choking Smid off. He then tries a chip dump from basically a stand still and puts his line off side.

When you are the back person with the puck on a 4 on 3 there is no reason for you to try and carry the puck to the blueline unless you have a direct lane (none of your players in front of you). Teams are too good now with 3 players back to expect them to make a tactical error in that situation. Smid could have either soft-dumped the puck to Eberle’s corner or put it hard around on his end to Eberle’s corner. In both situations the OIlers forwards still have all their speed and the Avs have to try and react to it. I don’t know what it is about dump ins that confuses some of these guys (ahem Hall), but if you are going full speed there’s a good chance you can win these puck battles.

Then there was that hit he took in the 3rd period. He had no idea who was behind him because the last time he looked was at the faceoff circle. This seems to be a bit of an MO for him. Not recognizing danger and getting cleaned because of it.

• Penner was a beast all over the ice, in all aspects. Noticeably, he was very surly; lots of little slashes behind the play, trash talk, etc.
• Peckham was great
• Cogs was the second best Oiler… buts still Cogs.
• MPS & Gags looked to have little to no confidence for the whole game, either forcing things too much, or not enough. MPS finally turned it around in the last 10 minutes
• JFJ ran two guys, but otherwise the only time I noticed him was for when he didn’t hit people. Like, an Av would move up the ice looking to pass, JFJ would close in, pass would leave and JFJ would curl away. without knowing it was him, I would say “gotta finish that hit”, then realize it was JFJ and curse.
• Smid looked not right. Like, maybe they should have waited one more game. Funny enough, he looked a lot better after he got smoked down low (by the guy in plain view, who was also the only skater within 30 feet of him)
• I’m a big pro-Horc guy, so when they called a timeout for the dzone draw (presumably to rest Horc), I told my wife, “he may be overpaid, but this is why they have him; to win (or scramble) these draws”… and he lost it clean. Thanks Horc.

Taylor Hall: so clutch.