Effort

Pronunciation: /ˈɛfət/
Noun:
1. a vigorous or determined attempt
2. technical a force exerted by a machine or in a process.

After a first period that saw the Bruins score three goals by Dennis Seidenberg, Jarome Iginla and Brad Marchand the Oilers decided keep pushing forward instead of sitting back (see EDM vs DET - Nov 2, 2013). All in all this was actually a pretty good game by the Oilers. Yes there were some defensive breakdowns and the power play continues to give up short handed goals/changes but at least the Oilers showed some life after going down by 3.

Highlights

David Perron's Goal

I just watched this play in awe of David Perron. Jordan Eberle makes a great play to hang onto the puck and get the pass off to Perron. After that it's all David Perron, one hand on his stick wraps it around and scores a beautiful goal.

Devan Dubnyk - WTF?

I have been one of the biggest supporters of Devan Dubnyk but this goal has WHAT THE F**K written all over it. All Dubnyk has to do is move 1 inch to the right and this shot goes into the corner or a the very least doesn't go in. I'm sorry but this was just brutal! This was Dubnyk of game 1 of this season! He has to make this stop! I think double D may have sealed his fate tonight.

Tweet of the Night

This has to be the Tweet of the night because it was nice to see the Oilers actually make it interesting to watch. It's been a while since I've been able to say that on a loss.

First night in ages I've seen almost unanimous positivity on the #Oilers twittersphere. Nice to see. Fun, fun game. #finally

— Darren Ward (@deeeward) December 13, 2013

Thoughts

David Perron

Here is a little background for you. In September 2008 the CSS released its draft list. I noticed a name on that list the name Magnus Paajarvi, my wife and I fell in love with the name and on December 15, 2008 we welcomed our 3rd son into the world. His name? Magnus. In June 2009 the Oilers drafted Paajarvi that year and it made me even happier. When Paajarvi was traded I was quite upset, he was a good possession player but just couldn't seem to score. If there was any player to replace Paajarvi, I'm glad it was Perron. What a great player and the move to the Oilers has made him even better. This was probably MacTavish's best move of the off season.

Luke Gazdic

This will be one of the few times I ever say that Sweet Luke Gazdic and his Magic Mitts did what he had to do. Taking a player like Milan Lucic out of the game for 5 minutes is like a pawn taking out a rook in chess. Lucic isn't the key to the Bruins success but he's a better player than Gazdic and by removing both from the game for 5 minutes it really did allow the Oilers to build some momentum.

Three Stars

1. David Perron
2. Anton Belov
3. Jason LaBarbera (coming into the game cold he made some key saves)