Oilers Lose Taylor Hall, Hockey Game

After finding the net only once against Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators, the Oilers continued their homestand looking to get a little more going offensively against the Vancouver Canucks.

Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

During the anthem: Ben Scrivens can be seen yawning in his crease. Someone get this guy a coffee, it’s game time.

First Period

1:55 Joensuu with a cross-ice feed to Hendricks for a shot on net. He draws a hooking call on the play and the Oilers get the first PP of the game.

3:30 Purcell misses a wide open net off a beautiful feed from Draisaitl.

4:55 Ben Scrivens makes a good save and then sweeps the puck out to centre to prevent any further chances.

6:30 Brad Hunt makes a decent play to prevent a Canuck from making a pass into the slot. He sure likes to take away passing lanes by going prone on the ice—not always an effective play.

9:30 Jesse Joensuu with a big hit in the Canucks end. Will this line ever slow down? I hope not.

11:30 Draisaitl shows improved speed coming down the wing and getting a backhand on net. A quick study, he is.

12:30 The Canucks have a period of sustained offensive zone pressure and nearly trick Scrivens with a point shot. The good news is, the Oilers are the first to the rebound and clear the zone. That’s a positive sign.

12:39 Jordan Eberle takes a Taylor Hall feed off his skate, up to his stick, and beats Miller with a nifty one-handed move. Oilers with a well-deserved lead in the first.

15:10 Perron with a decent wraparound attempt off a Mark Arcobello shot. Miller holds the line.

16:00 On a seemingly harmless play, Nail Yakupov shows all-world speed to split the Canucks D and catch up to the loose puck. He gets a backhand off and Miller makes the save.

18:30 The Sedin line has the Oilers top line running around a bit in their own zone. The twins have one of the best cycles in the league.

19:13 Luca Sbisa ties the game late in the first as the puck leaks out into the slot and he puts it away. Schultz and Hunt are out there for the goal against. Scrivens is looking shaky with his rebounds. That one hurts.

The score at the end of the first hardly reflects the actual play between the Oilers and Canucks so far. The Oilers have a CF% of 58.97 at 5v5 through twenty minutes. If they keep up the pressure, they should win this hockey game.

Second Period

0:30 Taylor Hall takes a nasty spill into the Canucks’ net and then the end boards. HNIC announces he’s heading back to the dressing room. Oil Country holds its collective breath.

2:00 Jeff Petry turns on the afterburners to catch up to the Canucks who looked to be on a 2-on-1. He kills the play dead.

2:42 Jesse Joensuu is off to the box for hooking. As Garry Galley put it, "He’s a big boy and he likes to bang."

8:10 Bonino heads off for hooking. The Oilers could really use a go-ahead goal here. It’s been a bit of a flat period.

10:30 Perron just about puts one away on a wrap around. The Oilers look to have gained a little momentum off the PP.

11:06 Eberle is going to the box for a retaliatory penalty after a Sbisa hit. HNIC announces that Hall won’t return tonight. Salt in the wound.

13:50 Nugent-Hopkins nearly puts one of those patented wristers past Miller.

14:03 Andrew Ference gets two minutes for hitting Zach Kassian in his ham head. That’s likely a suspension.

16:37 Linden Vey puts away a rebound to put the Canucks up 2-1. Guess who’s on the ice? Schultz and Hunt, and the latter was way too soft on that rebound.

17:41 Nugent-Hopkins gains the Canucks zone with control. Ference feeds the pucks off the half wall right onto Leon Draisaitl’s stick. He makes a perfect pass over to David Perron, who puts it five-hole on Ryan Miller. Oilers tie it up.

The Oilers still have the edge in 5v5 shot attempts after two periods with a 53.23 CF%.

Third Period

2:38 Look who’s going to the box: Zack Kassian. Two minutes for being you!

3:30 Yakupov lays out Daniel Sedin open ice, which unfortunately leads to a quality odd man rush for the Canucks.

3:52 Jordan Eberle goes back the other way all alone and nearly scores on the backhand.

4:05 Scrivens puts the puck right on Dorsett’s stick, who puts it into the net short side to make it 3-2 for the Canucks. That's a shorthanded goal and another addition to Ben Scrivens' 2014-2015 puck handling blooper reel.

7:00 Draisaitl gets it free and passes it off to Hunt who fails to find Pouliot waiting on the back post. Pass looked to get away from him a little bit.

10:38 Scrivens makes good by stealing one away from the Sedins on a 2-on-1.

18:50 Shawn Matthias holds up RNH on the race for the icing and it gets waved off.

In Conclusion

A strong first period and a decent second weren’t enough as the Oilers couldn’t catch up to the Canucks late in the third. After trailing through two, Vancouver finished the game with a slight edge in 5v5 shot attempts with a CF% of 51.22.

The bottom line is, this was anyone's game going into the third period and the boys in copper and blue failed to deliver.

Even worse yet, Taylor Hall left the game after crashing into the goal post and the end boards. He did not return. We’ll have to wait and see how serious the injury is.

"No update on Taylor so don't bother asking" - Eakins on Hall

— Rob Tychkowski (@Sun_Tychkowski) November 2, 2014