If Only Hockey Games were 40 Minutes Long

This game started the same way it ended with the St. Louis Blues dominating the Oilers. The only time the Oilers got close was shortly after David Perron scored the first goal of the game but after that it was typical Oilers hockey. All I could think for the third period was this quote from the game preview.

This will be a good opportunity for this team to bounce back after a really nice stretch of five games

And it was a nice bounce back game for the Blues who didn't care about score effect they just kept pushing forward and just took it to the Oilers.

Highlights

The Game Winner

I haven't focused on a individual goals in a while but I felt this goal was a good one to show again.

With Alex Pietrangelo closing in on him Sam Gagner made a good move to get the puck to Andrew Ference. Ference on the other hand with Vladimir Sobotka was right on top of him tries to reverse the puck to Justin Schultz. The puck goes right to Sobtoka and with Schultz and Gagner in no position to defend, Sobotka gets a clean pass off to Pietrangelo for the easy goal. The problem is that this isn't the first time this has happened, Ference has tried this move many times and it's lead to goals against or good scoring chances against in past games.

Game Review

Game Rating: 4 out of 10

Up until the third period the game was rather entertaining. As much as the Blues were able to keep the majority of the play in the Oilers zone there were bursts of life from the Oilers in the first 40 minutes.

Momentum Killer

For the second game in a row this honour belongs to the Oilers defence. The Blues dominated the Oilers defence and played them like a junior team.

Also he may have scored his first goal in 4 years but Mark Fraser's stupid penalty in the third was the nail in the coffin in this game.

Momentum Driver

This came rather early in the game. It was the Oilers first line early on, Perron was on a mission to score against his former team and his goal in the first gave the team some life as short lived as it was.

Points

So the Oilers remain at 54 points on the season with 15 games remaining. MacTavish obviously thought that the problem with the team was goaltending and he wouldn't be completely wrong but the fact that he hasn't addressed the defence is concerning. If this team goes another season without addressing this huge hole we may very well be wishing for 54 points for seasons to come.

Up Next

Oh great the Oilers play back to back on the road and the second of the back to back is against the Detroit Red Wings so there'll be even more fun hockey to watch! Enjoy the 54 points.