Haven't we seen this movie before? Oilers battle the Kings to a standoff for 55 minutes and then some big palooka who hasn't scored since before The Flood manages to find twine to decide things in regulation? Screw Hollywood and its corny endings anyway.
The good news is that the Oilers outshot, outchanced and even out-Corsied the Kings, and found a way to come from behind for the fifth consecutive game. The bad news was they started and finished poorly, and weren't even able to carry the tie to the 60-minute mark. Arrgghh, losses like that really hurt, especially in a year where Bettman Points are being given away like unwanted pennies on Halloween.
This was one game that you could put a little bit on goaltending. Jonathan Quick was outstanding in the Kings goal and Jeff Deslauriers wasn't able to match him. He didn't get a lot of help on the first two goals, both odd-man rushes after Denis Grebeshkov and Lubo Visnovsky, respectively, got burned at the exact same spot on the ice (the offensive blueline in the first period, the defensive in the second). The killer third goal came after a long possession in which the Oil couldn't touch the puck let alone clear the zone, but JDD got beat on a 60-footer along the ice, which is supposedly his strength. On a play like that the goalie needs to make himself big, and that didn't happen. Beaten by Sean O'Donnell, for Schremp's sake.
Stats of note after the jump:
EV Corsi by line (listed in order of EV TOI):
Penner +8, Gagner +6, Brule +5
Nilsson +10, Stone +9, Horcoff +6
Cogliano +7, Potulny +7, Moreau +5
Stortini -3, O'Sullivan -5, Jacques -6
Smid +7, Visnovsky +6
Souray +5, Gilbert +5
Staios +6, Grebeshkov +5
Pretty consistent outshooting across the top 3 lines and all 3 defence pairs. The "new fourth line" consisting of Stortini anchored by Horcoff's old linemates POS and JFJ had a tough night, especially O'Sullivan who committed a game-high* 3 giveaways, 2 of which were very bad ones in Oilers end. (* Worst among skaters but tied with JDD and Quick of all people) The trio spent the third period stapled to the bench, on demerit judging by those shots totals. They did create some havoc physically, or at least JFJ and Zorg did. I'm frankly wondering what it is Patrick O'Sullivan brings to this team right now.
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Faceoffs (2 or more)
Stortini 5/6 = 83%
Potulny 7/14 = 50%
Horcoff 5/10 = 50%
Gagner 4/8 = 50%
Penner 2/5 = 40%
Oilers 25/46 = 54%
New faceoff ace? :)
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Cogliano: 4 shots, 7 attempted shots
Potulny: 1-1-2, +1
Jacques: 3 hits, 5 PiM
Deslauriers: 23/26, .885, L
Souray: 1-1-2, +1, 4 shots, 7 attempted shots
Brule: 3 shots, 3 hits
Quinn: 1 profanity-laced post game outburst
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Matt Greene: +1, 2 PiM, 6 hits, 2 blocks, 1 goal line save (see picture)
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Next up: vs. Nashville, Thursday, 19:30 MST