Oilers Surpass 62 Points in a Win Against Phoenix

63 POINTS!!!

For the past few weeks I have focused on one thing throughout most of my post game reviews. Tonight the Oilers finally achieved what had seemed to be the impossible. They cracked the 62 point barrier! A number that has come to define this team and the franchises ability to select first overall at the NHL Entry Draft. Not only did the win over the Phoenix Coyotes move them to 63 point but it also moved them up from 29th overall to 28th overall after the godless Flames beat the Florida Panthers in regulation! So CELEBRATE!!!

Anyway enough with the sarcasm here is how the game went down.

Game Notes

First Period

18:54 - Sam Gagner breaks through the defence after a nice pass from Anton Lander. He appears to have Thomas Greiss beat but losses his handle on the puck and it slides wide of the net.

16:50 - Taylor Hall gets a pass to Jordan Eberle. Eberle makes a good move and gets a good chance on net.

14:28 - Eberle gets the puck to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and gets a really nice chance in front of the net but Greiss makes the stop

13:34 - Radim Vrbata gets the puck in the slot but Ben Scrivens is able to make the stop

11:02 - Will Acton fights his way though the Coyotes' defence with a bouncing puck and almost gets the shot away but instead knocks it into the netting and out of play

10:02 - Sam Gagner takes a shot from the point and Perron tips it but Greiss makes the save and kicks the puck right to Landers. Lander gets the rebound and the puck slides right into the crease but no one is there to bury it.

0:45 Goal - Hall carries the puck into the offensive zone and gets a pass over to Justin Schultz while Phoenix's defence collapses in front of the net. Lauri Korpikoski slides to block the shot but instead gets enough of the puck to fool Greiss and the Oilers score.

Second Period

Out of all of the periods in the game the second was the most action filled and was probably one of the most entertaining periods I've watched from the Oilers in a while.

14:49 - Ryan Smyth shoots the puck and as Greiss did all night he left a nice rebound for the Oilers. Boyd Gordon gets a shot away and Greiss gets a piece of it and the puck just misses the far post.

13:13 - David Perron streaks in on the right side and gets a shot away but misses the net. Keith Yandle's slash is probably the reason Perron misses the net on the shot but at least the Oilers draw a penalty and are headed to the power play.

12:26 - And what would an Oilers power play be without at least one short handed chance against. This time the Coyotes got two chances both Antoine Vermette and Korpikoski get scoring oppertunities

11:13 - Phoenix kills off the penalty the only shot the Oilers got on net was from the point by Justin Schultz

11:04 - Perron picks up the puck in the Oilers zone and makes a quick pass to Philip Larsen who then gets it back to Perron as he enters the Coyote's zone. Perron circles in behind the net and gets a sharp angle shot that gets blocked in front. Phoenix tries to clear the zone but Perron gets the puck back. He once again goes behind the net and tries to set up with Gagner standing infront of the net. Meanwhile Matt Hendricks, who has been promoted to the second line, parks himself in the crease and Perron gets a nice shot away but can't score. The entire zone time for the line was 40 seconds.

5:42 - In an attempt to move Mike Ribeiro off the puck Jeff Petry ends up taking a hooking penalty

5:28 Goal - Oliver Ekman-Larsson scores on the ensuing power play after the Oilers penalty kill kind of falls apart

2:45 - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins steals the puck from Ribiero and gets it to Hall. Hall makes a great pass to Jordan Eberle who hits the crossbar with his shot

1:24 - Zbynek Michalek dumps the puck in from centre. Ben Scrivens heads behind the net to stop the puck but it ends up taking funny bounce off the boards and goes right to the front of the net. Scrivens is completely out of position, luckily Schultz is there get his stick in the way and Martin Erat's shot goes into the netting.

Third Period

17:35 - Steve Pinizzotto gets a two on one break with Schultz and tries to get the pass over the Schultz but misses the pass

15:51 - Nugent-Hopkins gets a shot away and barely goes wide of the net

12:49 - Vrbata gets a great shot away right off the face off but Scrivens comes up big and makes the stop

17:18 Goal - Oliver Ekman-Larssen gets a shot off from the point that Scrivens make the initial stop on but Kyle Chipchura is at the side of the net to bury the rebound

6:17 - Shane Doan gets a partial break but Anton Belov slashes him and the Coyotes head to the power play

5:12 - A wide open Michael Stone receives a pass and rifles it off the post

1:35 - The Oilers pull Scrivens but have a tough time getting anything going

1:02 - Phoenix ices the puck so Dallas Eakins puts Scrivens back in the net. Phoenix (Vermette) wins the face off and they clear the zone but the Oilers are able to gain possession and Scrivens leaves the net

0:41 Goal - Gagner dumps the puck in behind the net as the Oilers try to gain the zone. Greiss goes behind the net to stop the puck but Eberle is able to get the puck. He tries the wrap around on the empty net and Gagner is there to ensure that it goes in.

Over Time

2:46 - The only real scoring chance in the over time period came from Ekman-Larsson that was stopped by Scrivens

Shoot Out

So this is the first shoot out game that I have cover with this format. I'll give a just a basic run down because I didn't capture every move each player made and will include the game winner as the video.

PHX 1 - Mikkel Boedker (STOP)

EDM 1 - Jordan Eberle (POKE CHECK)

PHX 2 - Radim Vrbata (STOP)

EDM 2 - David Perron (MISS)

PHX 3 - Antoinne Vermette (STOP)

EDM 3 - Matt Hendricks (STOP)

PHX 4 - Oliver Ekman-Larsson (STOP)

EDM 4 - Sam Gagner (GOAL)

Game Review

Game Rating: 8 out of 10

A lot of people are going to look at the rating and say "WTF?" so here is a quick explanation. The Oilers played a good road game. They stayed close with Phoenix for pretty much the whole game. Corsi wise the only line with a negative Corsi was the first line of Hall, Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins. Every other line was either even or positive that is a pretty good road game.

Momentum Drivers

Moving Hendricks to the second line was a pretty good move by Eakins. Its not a move I would make every game but this time it worked out. Hendricks playing the part of Ryan Smyth in front of the net causing havoc was nice to see.

Momentum Killer

I don't know but over the past few games Jeff Petry has really made some bad decisions with and without the puck. I'm not sure what it is but when he makes mistakes they are noticeable and they really hurt the Oilers.

Up Next

Well the Oilers are now finished all 41 of their road games for the season they finished with a 13-22-6 record on the road. They head back to Rexall Place to finish out the season and it all starts Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. Talk at you then I guess.