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| 20-33-6, .780 p/g | Ranks | 23-21-13 1.036 p/g |
| Western Conference: 14th | Eastern Conference: 13th | |
| 29th | P/G | 23rd |
| 26th | ST | 30th |
| 20th | ES | 26th |
| 30th | Goal | 5th |
The Scrivens Is Strong In This One
Scrivens turns aside 34 of 35 Ranger shots, and the Oilers get goals from Ryan Smyth and Nail Yakupov. This is the Oiler model for victories early in February 2014. Scrivens' SV% is .948 since joining the Oilers. I talked a little bit about how that number is unsustainable after yesterday's game, but I also understand how it feels good to win regardless of how it happens. I'm taking an estimated guess, but I'm thinking Scrivens' average SV% is somewhere around the .915 area. No matter where you think his average is, it's a 100% safe bet that he's playing out of his mind right now. Enjoy the ride.
The Oilers are saying
"I think that was our top game this season. We played good."
That's winger Nail Yakupov of the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday's 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.
It's a fair bet that Yakupov won't be a .5 point per game player this year. That being said, I hope he channels his inner Scrivens and pops off for 35 points in the next 20 games. Yakupov scored the game winner with just over 90 seconds remaining in the game, his eleventh of the year and 22nd point in 54 games. It was a pretty goal, too. Pretty goals don't count more than the ugly ones, but it's worth noting that the Oiler forwards looked competent while setting it up, like they had a plan, even.
Funny, I didn't hear anyone talking about Yakupov's plus/minus rating after the game. That's good, because plus/minus is about as useful as a one-legged cat trying to bury turds on a frozen pond.
The Opponent is saying
"It's frustrating...it seems that's kind of what we're dealing with right now. It hasn't been an issue all year and then all the sudden the last three games we've had an issue in the last minute. We have to fin da way to get a second and third goal. If you let anybody hang around in this league long enough, bad things happen, and that's the story lately."
- This game is Edmonton's last game until after the Olympic break. That's 20 days away, which will allow me to work on my all-over tan.
- I've got Ilya Bryzgalov back tonight. He hasn't played since Monday, and he looked good in turning aside 42 of 44 Sabres shots. Also, a rested Bryzgalov is likely a better option than Scrivens, who has seen more vulcanized rubber in the last two weeks than an employee at Mr. Lube.
- "IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE" Jaromir Jagr is kind of bummed out about getting separated from Travis Zajac in order to play with Andrei Loktionov. Jagr would like to play with Travis Zajac again, very soon.
- Devils will likely be going with Cory Schneider again. Schneider's had a very, very good season up to this point in time (.925 sv%) . The Devils' goal scoring has been anemic at best, as they're averaging just 2.33 goals per game so far.
- IT'S DOLLAR DOG NIGHT in New Jersey. Patiently waiting for nickel beer night in Edmonton.
- GOILERS
The Edmonton Oilers
Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Nail Yakupov
David Perron - Sam Gagner - Jordan Eberle
Matt Hendricks - Boyd Gordon - Ales Hemsky
Luke Gazdic - Ryan Smyth - Ryan Jones
Andrew Ference - Mark Fraser
Jeff Petry - Martin Marincin
Nick Schultz - Justin Schultz
Ben Scrivens
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Dainius Zubrus - Andrei Loktionov - Jaromir Jagr
Patrik Elias - Travis Zajac - Damien Brunner
Ryane Clowe - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
Mark Fayne - Andy Greene
Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky
Jon Merrill - Peter Harrold
Cory Schneider