Dubnyked

It was a reunion of sorts in Edmonton tonight as Sam Gagner returned to Rexall ice along with one-time Oilers prospect Tobias Rieder. At the other side of the rink, a familiar face in Devan Dubnyk got the start for the Coyotes.

First Period

2:30 Jeff Petry shows good speed catching Martin Erat on a potential breakaway.

5:00 So far so good for the Oilers as they have yet to allow the Coyotes to establish themselves in the offensive zone.

6:40 Promising rush from the old 4-93-14 line as they get a chance on net.

8:30 Nice passing play by Nuge to drop it off to a crossing Jordan Eberle on the rush. He gets a backhand off, Dubnyk with the save.

9:50 Petry shows good speed on the forecheck, picking the puck up in the corner, coming around the net, and getting a wrist shot on net.

12:12 Boyd Gordon is heading off for high sticking.

13:00 Dubnyk races out of his net and beats RNH to a loose puck at the blueline. Nearly an open net for the Nuge.

14:08 Brandon Gormley gets his first goal in the bigs on the PP. Perfect shot through traffic.

16:30 Dubnyk with a big save on a tip by Mark Arcobello. The former Oiler has been rock-solid so far tonight.

The shots through twenty minutes are 15-8 for the Oilers. They also have 66.67% of the shot attempts at 5v5.

The difference so far tonight has been Devan Dubnyk. How many times have we heard that before? And almost always in a negative sense...

Second Period

1:15 Hall with a solid back check to take a shot away from Vermette on an odd man rush.

2:11 Yakupov draws an interference penalty with some hard work in front of the net.

8:00 Nearing the midpoint of the second period, the Oilers are moving the puck well out of their own zone and establishing themselves in Arizona’s end. Just need to find the net.

9:15 Korpikoski takes a beautiful pass from OEL and goes in alone on Scrivens, who makes the stop.

9:49 Taylor Hall draws a retaliatory slashing penalty on Yandle. The Coyotes are blocking everything on this man advantage.

12:49 RNH heads to the box after taking a hooking penalty in the offensive zone.

13:44 Ben Scrivens shoots it straight over the glass. I saw that one coming, as soon as he winded up that goofy backhand. Coyotes with a two man advantage. Big kill here for an Oilers team that deserves to be up.

15:00 Nugent-Hopkins leaves the box after a huge kill by Gordon and co. He goes in on a one-on-one and makes a nice move to cut into the middle, but misses the net.

16:20 Shane Doan heads off for interference. This is a prime opportunity for the Oilers to even it up before the third.

Arizona has blocked 19 shots on the night. The Oilers continue to lead in the 5v5 CF% department with 55.00%. What’s more is they’re outshooting the Coyotes 25-16. Still anyone’s game going into the third with the good guys trailing by one.

Third Period

3:40 The Coyotes get one waved off after a bit of a scrum in Scrivens’ crease. The Coyotes are playing the best they have all night. The Oilers need to respond.

5:00 RNH drives to the net with the puck after some decent cycling by the Oilers.

8:15 Oilers with a nice sequence of pressure, with the best chance coming off Taylor Hall’s stick from a tricky angle.

9:30 The Oilers send Nikitin out to man the right point on a left-side offensive zone faceoff. Nearly pays off as RNH wins the draw and Schultz gets it over to Nikitin for a shot on net.

12:51 Boedker make it 2-0 for the Coyotes. That’s a backbreaker.

13:07 Vitale is heading off for Elbowing. This is a must-score powerplay.

14:10 Taylor Hall makes it 2-1 on a beautiful shot after some nice work and patience behind the net by Jordan Eberle. One more, guys.

15:01 Benoit Pouliot takes an unfortunate boarding penalty, making it that much harder for the Oilers.

In Conclusion

The Edmonton Oilers dropped another one to the Western Conference tonight after running into a hot goalie. It was none other than Devan Dubnyk who spurned his former team, making 33 saves on 34 shots.

What a very "Oilers" thing to happen.