April Fools! Up 4-3 in the Third! Oilers Lose 5-4

After beating the Oilers 5-2 in Edmonton the San Jose Sharks went on a little bit of slide, not an Oilers style slide but they did lose 2 games in row. The Oilers on the other hand had just come off of a 5-0 beating at the hand of the New York Rangers. The last time these two teams met the Sharks went 3/3 on the power play which would prove to be the difference. Tonight the power play would prove to be the difference again.

Game Notes

Once again Ben Scrivens got the call in net and once again he'd face 30+ shots in a game. It was announced after the New York game that both Andrew Ference and Luke Gazdic were done for the season. So Mark Fraser drew into the lineup again and Philip Larsen would play right wing on the fourth line as well. Also drawing into the lineup was recent callup Will Acton who has been tearing it up in the AHL with 12-10-22 in 44 GP (FYI Mark Arcobello 10-18-28 in 15 GP in the AHL but his dad isn't associate coach so that doesn't count).

First Period

16:49 Goal - Taylor Hall makes a pass to Jordan Eberle and he is unable to get the puck out of the zone. Tyler Kennedy takes the initial shot that Scrivens saves but he kicks the rebound right into the slot where Andrew Desjardins is able to bury the puck into a wide open net while Jeff Petry tries to clear the puck instead of checking Desjardins. This was San Jose's fourth line that features Mike Brown against Edmonton's first line.

16:22 - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins draws a tripping penatly on Jason Demers. On the ensuing power play the Oilers were able to two shots on net both by Taylor Hall and didn't give up a short handed goal. Baby steps right?

12:01 - David Perron gets a penalty for tripping James Sheppard. The best chance on the Sharks power play was a short handed chance for Anton Lander.

8:23 - Matt Hendricks draws a roughing penalty on Dan Boyle.

7:26 Goal - Not a typical power play goal but Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is somehow able to draw 3 Sharks' defenders to him and he feeds the puck to wide open Hall who is able to beat Anti Niemi.

5:10 - Both Brett Burns and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins recieve coincidental minors.

4:06 Goal - Dan Boyle scores after Joe Thornton wins the draw and powers his way to the front of the net and chatches all of the Oilers watching him. Thornton gets a pass to Boyle in the slot and before Hall can get to his check the puck is in the back of the net.

1:16 - To finish out the period Anton Lander gets a high stick up on Dan Boyle and the Oilers head back to the PK.

Second Period

19:16 - After killing off the penalty to Anton Lander, Mark Fraser decides he hasn't done enough damage just playing on this team an he takes a hooking call. And the Oilers are back to the PK.

18:12 - Joe Thornton almost scores as Hopkins and Petry both fan on the puck trying to clear the zone.

17:15 Goal - A second after the penatly expires to Mark Fraser, Tommy Wingles scores on another faceoff won by the Sharks.

16:18 - Fraser and Burns get into a pushing match and Fraser decides to drop the gloves and gets the extra penatly. Another PK for the Oilers

14:55 - Bitd Gordon gets a nice short handed shot on net, the puck goes behind the net and Matt Hendricks gets a second scoring chance on the wrap around

10:41 - Eberle and Hall get a 2 on 1 but Hall fans on the puck and it goes wide of the open net

9:35 - This was Edmonton's best shift of the game. Eberle joined Gordon and Ryan Smyth and they sustained pressure for almost a full minute.

9:25 - Petry gets a clean point shot away

8:56 - Eberle misses the net

8:50 - Eberle tips the puck wide of the net

8:45 - Gordon gets a shot on net

8:35 - Petry gets another shot but its blocked by Burns

6:56 Goal - Hopkins gets a pass from Anton Belov and makes a move then buries the quick shot

6:18 - Originally credited to Hopkins because it appeared to go off of his skate. Jordan Eberle scores off of Justin Braun's skate.

5:11 - Mark Fraser fights Mike Brown and Fraser draws the extra penalty so the Oilers head to the PK again

0:15 - Justin Schultz makes a pass to Eberle that is to tough for Eberle to handle and the Sharks get another scoring chance

Third Period

16:44 - Mike Brown hooks David Perron and the Oilers head to the power play

15:56 - Hall gets a beautiful feed but is unable to beat Niemi with the one timer

15:03 - Philip Larsen gets the puck in the slot but just can't get it over Niemi's pad

13:44 Goal - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins burries a bouncing puck on a quick feed from Eberle that hits a stick

9:25 Goal - Brett Burns scores on a pass from Thornton and some great moves by Joe Pavelski. Hendricks is chasing the puck and Oscar Klefbom seems confused about his assignment.

7:37 - Perron gets his second penalty of the game

7:29 Goal - Once again this play starts with the Sharks winning the faceoff and controlling the puck. Scrivens makes the initial save but over commits and is way out position. Patrick Marleau is left with a wide open net and buries the puck.

3:54 - With the Oilers trying to mount a come back Perron takes yet another penatly

1:32 - The Oilers pull Scrivens for the extra attacker but cannot capitalize

Game Review

Game Rating: 7 out of 10

This was one of the Oilers best road games of the year and it was against one of the leagues best teams. There were still some mistakes made but for a road game you can't ask for more except a win I guess.

Moment Killer

This is a shared honour between David Perron and Mark Fraser but the lion share goes to Mark Fraser for their stupid penalties. Fraser looked like that guy at the end of the night at a bar looking for fight and it kept costing the team.

Momentum Driver

Another shared honour. The first line looked great tonight even though they spent most of the night playing against the Sharks top line. All three of Hall, Hopkins and Eberle were flying and each contributed.

Up Next

The Anaheim Ducks tomorrow. Looks like we'll see Viktor Fasth for the first time since the Calgary game. Hopefully he plays well against his former team so the Oilers can finally get past 62 points on the season.