Outplayed But That's Ok

No matter how you slice it tonight's game looked like it was going to be ugly. The Oilers had just played Nashville the night before in a game that went to over time. St. Louis is a team of forward depth, strong defense and coaching that is arguably the best in the NHL. It would appear that tonight the game was going to be slaughtering but the hockey gods had something a little different in mind.

Highlights

First Period

If you only watched the first period then you'd have agreed with my initial comment about the Oilers getting slaughtered. It was so lopsided that I was pretty sure that 6-0 romp was going to occur again.

• 18:10 - Steve Ott & Steve Pinizzotto fight
• 15:09 PK - Draisaitl takes a holding penalty 200 ft away from his net
• 14:13 - Lehtera gets the puck in the slot after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins lost his check but luckily Ben Scrivens the post was there to bail him out. The Oilers can't get a stick on the puck and it goes out to TJ Oshie in the slot who ends up hitting Scrivens with the puck
• 8:44 - After Mark Fayne's shot is blocked Schwartz & Terasenko start on a possible 2 on 1 (Fayne gets back in time to even it up). Ference, while trying to check Terasenko, some how loses grip of his stick and it comes up and hits Scrivens in the shoulder and almost nocks his mask off
• 8:25 GOAL - After gaining the zone Cole makes a pass to an open wing. Terasenko gets to the puck first and makes a pass to the point. Oshie comes in untouched (bad change by Hall) and wires a shot over Scrivens' shoulder
• The rest of the period was basically a shooting gallery for the Blues

Second Period

After the sh*t kicking the Oilers took in the first I was not looking forward to the second. Things could get ugly fast but the Oilers decided to at least show some life and actually surprised me quite a bit.

• 18:20 - Fayne pinches to try and keep the puck in. This leads to a 3 on 1. On the pass across to Schwartz Nikitin gets a stick on the puck and the puck just goes wide
• 17:16 - Steen in tight all alone gets a great chance but Scrivens gets his glove up in time to make the save
• 14:09 GOAL - This play starts with a shot by Joensuu from the Oilers side of centre ice. Leon Draisaitl chases the puck into the corner and catches David Perron with a high pass at the top of the slot. With Allen screened Perron blasts it past him
• 3:14 GOAL - Eberle gains the zone and pushes the puck towards the corner. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gets to the puck and heads behind the net. Taylor Hall skates the puck out and draws some defenders towards him. Nikita Nikitin sneaks in from the point unnoticed and puts it behind Allen. (This was the Oilers first lead in a game since November 9th)
• 0:50 - Nail Yakupov's stick goes flying while trying to check a Blues player. At least this time it didn't hit anyone

Third Period

Things got kinda crazy. I'm not sure if the Oilers even remember how to play with a lead so things got kind of stupid.

• 19:29 GOAL - The play starts with Backes hitting Jeff Petry right in the numbers as Petry is going to retrieve the puck. Petry is able to get the puck and push it along the boards but Hall is unable to retrieve it. Oshie gets the puck up to the point over to Shattenkirk who takes a light wrist shot that beats a screened Scrivens
• 16:05 GOAL - The whole sequence is started when the Blues are unable to clear the zone. Purcell stops the puck at the blue line and finds Hall down low. The amazing part about this is Hall's patience with the puck. He forces Pietrangelo to go down to block the shot but Hall is waiting for something else and doesn't take the shot. Mark Arcobello is streaking up the middle of the ice and is quick enough to get away from Maxim Lapierre. With Alex Pietrangelo out, Hall flips a pass right onto Arcobello's stick and Arcobello just needs to tap it in
• 10:37 - Nikitin, fighting for the puck in the corner finally gets possession and decides to make a pass to the slot. Only problem is no one is ready for it, well except for Ian Cole who one times it. Luckily Jesse Joensuu deflects it into the netting
• 7:35 GOAL - This goal starts with Perron making a pass to Hall who appeared to be going off. Hall loses the puck and is too tired to get back into the play, he decides to change as the Blues are rushing up the ice. Oshie gains the zone and dishes the puck off to Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo makes the initial shot but Scrivens stops it. Oshie picks up the rebound but again Scrivens makes the stop. Perron gets tangled up with Oshie and they take Scrivens out. The puck is still loose and Pietrangelo buries it into the open net
• 5:45 PK - Oscar Klefbom, trying to get a pass up to Hall at centre ice, ends up clearing the puck over the glass
• 4:35 - Steen fakes the shot and draws 3 Oilers defenders towards him. He then feathers a pass over to Terrasenko who is wide open. Terrasenko releases the shot but Scrivens stops it juggles the puck a little but ultimately holds onto it

Overtime

For the second night in a row the Oilers were headed to overtime and for the second night in a row the outcome would be the same.

• 3:11 PK - Mark Fayne makes the play that has been ok up until this year. He knocks the puck off of Lehtera's stick but his body ends up tripping Lehtera
• 0:40 GOAL - Jultz with a Norris candidate play on Terrasenko. Terrasenko fakes to one side and Justin Schutlz bites and just as Schutlz moves Terrasenko wires home the game winner

Thoughts

So the Oilers have taken a point out of both Nashville and St. Louis two teams in the top 10 in the NHL and that's not horrible. Where the horribleness comes in is how lucky the Oilers were to walk away with a point in this game. Shots alone were 41-16 in favour of the Blues, total corsi events were 76-39 for the Blues and the only place the Oilers did better than the Blues was in net.

This point is not a good thing! It guarantees that a guy like Luke Gazdic (10:21 TOI) plays next game. It means that Jultz is going to be back out there making stupid mistakes again while management and the coaching staff keep pointing at a future Norris Trophy nomination. A point against a good team that completely outplayed the Oilers means that things won't change because the Oilers only need to tweak things not really fix the problems.

This is not good no matter how you look at it.

Up Next

The Oilers are back at Rexall Place on Monday to face the Coyotes. How many times does Quinn call them the Phoe...Arizona Coyotes.