Olympic Rust? Nope Just Oilers Hockey

Well the Olympic break is over and the first team the Oilers had to face after the break was the Minnesota Wild. So we got to watch some really boring hockey that was compounded by three goals against. This was the worst game we've watched in the past 3 weeks but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Only 21 games left!

Minnesota played their style of game and the Oilers continued to play theirs. There is a reason that Minnesota is currently in a playoff spot and the Oilers aren't. Man I miss the Olympics!

Highlights

All the Goals Against

Andrew Ference and Anton Belov. What a mess! All 3 goals against were scored against this pairing. What a joke! Here they are in sequence.

Scrivens just got Ferenced. Oh and where is Belov that's right over in the corner right before Ference realizes nobody is covering the slot.

Oh hey look what D pairing is on the ice again?

One more time for good measure.

The Game Review

Game Rating: 1 out of 10

This game was a reminder that the Oilers have a very high mountain to climb. This could be the last time we've seen Ales Hemsky play as an Oiler (although that may not happen for a couple games). This team is bad and defence is the issue no matter how you try to slice it.

Momentum Killer

Matt Hendricks. Why? It started 49 seconds into the game when Hendricks hit Prosser from behind. It turned the game into a game of revenge. The Wild would score 1:15 later. And it just got worse from there.

Momentum Driver (If you wanna call it that)

The top line of Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov. Up until Yakupov got hurt this line played great and generated most of the Oilers chances.

Up Next

The Calgary Flames. In a game of "NO! You score!" the Oiler will play the Flames at Rexall Place. BOA?!?

One Last Thing

I love Ben Scrivens' new mask! That throw back to WHA is fantastic. The Oilers should resign him just for that.