How to Make Two Points Disappear into Thin Air

The Oilers rolled into Anaheim last night after losing 5-4 the night before at the hands of the San Jose Sharks. The tired Oilers were able to keep pace and even out play the Ducks for most of the game. The only issue was the fact that the Oilers let a two goal lead slip out of their hands very quickly thanks to almost and Oiler Corey Perry.

Game Notes

Earlier in the day we found out the the Oilers had made yet another emergency call up from the OKC Barons, Steve Pinizzotto, to fill in for another emergency call up that was recently injured (Tyler Pitlick). Viktor Fasth would get the start for the Oilers in net which made sense because Ben Scrivens had played the night before in San Jose. Other than those two changes the lineup remained the same.

First Period

Although the Oilers lead on the shot clock, the first 13 minutes of the period looked more like the Oilers were just trying to keep Anaheim out of the Oilers zone. Things didn't pick up until the second half of the period.

17:09 - Wil Acton and Matt Hendricks collide knee on knee at the Oilers blue line. Neither were injured but the collision looked pretty bad.

7:05 - Wil Acton was going to receive the initial penalty for hooking Matt Beleskey but then the two dropped the gloves and got fighting majors. Acton was still penalized for the initial hold so the Oilers had to head to the PK.

5:05 - The Oilers kill off the penalty

4:13 - This was probably the worst decission I've seen Oscar Klefbom make in his short time up with the Oilers and it really could have cost them. It starts with Justin Schultz going deep but nobody covers his position. The puck gets chipped up along the boards by Mathieu Perreault and Klefbom moves up try to hold the zone but the puck goes right past him. This leads to a 2 on 0 break for Perreault and Patrick Maroon the only saving grace was that Schultz was able to get back in time to take away the pass so Perreault was forced to shoot.

3:14 - Perry dances around the offensive zone and gets a high quality chance but Fasth makes the glove save.

2:45 - Sam Gagner gets call for hooking on Ryan Getzlaf

0:45 - Oilers kill off the penalty

Second Period

16:54 - Mark Fraser makes a good stick block of a centering pass from Rickard Rakell and directs it into the corner. Fraser then proceeds to pass the puck right to Rakell who gets an excellent scoring chance. This also lead to 30 seconds of sustained pressure by the Ducks

14:45 - Taylor Hall gets sprung on a breakaway but Frederik Andersen makes the stop.

11:14 - Hall gets yet another great scoring chance but just can't beat Andersen

10:28 - Jeff Petry draws a penalty as Kyle Palmieri hooks him down after Petry makes some nice moves to get into a good position with the puck

8:28 - Ducks kill off the Oilers power play

7:23 - Matt Hendricks and Luca Sbisa get into a pushing match and both draw roughing penalties (4v4)

5:57 - Perreault gets called for tripping Petry (4v3)

4:36 - What is an Oilers power play with out a short handed chance against? This time it was Getzlaf's chance and he shoots the puck just wide of the net. (5v4)

3:56 Goal - With Ryan Smyth parked in front of the net, Philip Larsen moves down into the zone and scores.

0:47 - Taylor Hall once again gets a great scoring chance

0:36 - And one more scoring chance by Hall for good measure

Third Period

17:09 Goal - This goal is all Hall he weaves around the neutral zone until he finds a path and it's a 2 on 1. Francois Beauchemin tries to take away slide and knock away the puck but Hall gets a great pass over to Eberle who has the open net.

16:40 - Andersen keeps Anaheim in the game! Ryan Nugent-Hopkins takes a shot that Andersen stop but the rebound goes to where Hall is but he can't get a handle on it. Hopkins though is there to bury the rebound but Andersen makes the save and changes the game.

16:28 Goal - After the stop on Hopkins, Perry picks up the puck and tries to make an initial pass to Hampus Lindholm but the puck goes past him and right onto Beleskey's stick entering the Oilers zone. Perry jumps back into the play scores.

14:49 - Martin Marincin and Andrew Cogliano both draw roughing minors (4v4)

12:35 - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins steals the puck from Ducks defender right in front of the net but puts the puck high

8:35 Goal - Marincin tries to clear the puck up to Pinizzotto who just tries to chip it out but Stephane Robidas is able to get a quick shot away with Perry standing in front of the net to make the deflection.

6:38 - Ryan Smyth takes a cross checking penalty

4:38 - Oilers kill of the penalty to Smyth

4:08 - Beleskey takes a high-sticking penalty but the Oilers are unable to score on the ensuing power play

1:21 Goal - Beauchemin gets a pass from Perry and his slap shot beats Fasth completing the comeback

1:07 - The Oilers get the extra attacker on the ice but are unable to a good shot away

Full Highlights

Game Review

Game Rating: 8 out of 10

The Oilers played a good road game and considering that it was the second game of a back to back they fared quite well. There were some stumbling blocks but at least there was an effort.

Momentum Driver

The Oilers out shot the Ducks 32-26 and the majority of the Oilers shots came from Hall, RNH, Eberle, Gagner and Larsen (Playing FWD). The five of those players combined for 27 of those shots the rest of the shots came from Petry, Belov, Klefbom and Marincin. The first line of Hall, Eberle and RNH were all above 60% Corsi in the game that is something else.

Momentum Killer

Viktor Fasth and he wasn't so much a momentum killer until the last two minutes when he allowed the weak goal that cost the Oilers at least a point.

Points

I've been coming back to this every so often just to emphasize how bad this season actually is. The Oilers are still sitting at 61 points. They have 5 games remaining and should get at least one more point in those five games but it is coming down to the wire. In those next five games their best chance of getting at least a point are Friday's game against the Coyotes or next Saturday's game against the Canucks (and that's a bit of a long shot as well). Could this season be the worst season yet? It's getting close.

Up Next

As I mentioned above the Oilers are off to Phoenix to face the Coyotes. The Coyotes are trying to make the playoffs and are currently tied with Dallas for the final wild card spot in the west. If Phoenix wants to make the playoffs they need to beat the Oilers on Friday so be prepared for that.