Tkachev & Moroz

Well the post game thoughts are back for another season and like the Oilers I am also in pre-season mode.

The Edmonton Oilers' rookies took to the ice tonight against the Vancouver Canucks' rookies in a game played in Penticton, BC. It was a fun game to watch with a few WTF moments and thanks to no time clock being available on the Oilers feed I won't be able to provide you with time stamps on goals & events. I took quick notes and don't have a play by play sheet to work off of so some of the information isn't 100% complete.

First Period

• The first penalty of the game went to the Vancouver Canucks and former Oilers prospect Jereme Blain
• The best chance of the PP was an in close chance by Jujhar Khaira
• After the power play Morco Roy got a good chance on a bad turn over but Austin Lotz made a good stop on the play
• Connor Boland (who was wearing #83) took the Oilers first penalty of the game
• The best chance of the Canucks power play came short handed by the Oilers' Jackson Houck
• The Oilers got two more power plays after that
• GOAL - On the final power play with less than a minute to play Mitchell Moroz scored assisted by Greg Chase
• The final shots of the period were 17 - 2 for the Oilers

Notes

Even though the Oilers only allowed 2 shots against Laurent Brossoit looked a little shaky on both shots. A small forward by the name of Vladimir Tkachev probably had the best period by an Oilers forward while Martin Gernat almost looked out of his league (the trend by both would continue for the rest of the game).

Second Period

• Within the first minute or so Dane Fox got a fantastic opportunity but was stopped by Brossoit
• GOAL - Bogdan Yakimov scored point blank on a pass from Tkachev who gained the zone on a very nice controlled zone entry
• GOAL - A few minutes Dane Fox scored on a basically open net after a missed wrap around by Hunter Shinkaruk missed the mark and floated out to Fox. Brossoit's effort was strange because he probably could've made the save if just slid across his crease but instead he decided to jump and dive for the puck.
• Oilers got another power play but were unable to score
• GOAL - Shortly after the Oilers power play expired Curtis Valk scored on a partial screen
• Oilers got another power play. Draisaitl had a perfect opportunity to score but missed high & wide on the open net.
• After setting up Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse got penalized for a high stick
• Minutes after the Nurse penalty Kale Kessy decided to take a stupid slashing penalty and forced the Oilers to kill a 5v3

Notes

Brossoit and Gernat continued to have shaky games. On the other hand Tkachev continued his strong play. By the end of 2nd I had counted 5 controlled zone entries and already had an assist as well as some decent setups, did I mention that Tkachev is 5'9" and 141lbs. David Musil also made a few bonehead plays (that is all my notes say, sorry).

Third Period

• To start the 3rd Marco Roy got another good chance on net
• Leon Draisaitl suffered an apparent leg injury but remained on the bench
• GOAL - Gernat made up for his bone head plays in the second by driving hard to the net when, as you've probably guessed by now, Tkachev made a nice soft pass to Gernat to put the Oilers up 3-2
• Ales Hemsky Connor Boland laid out Cordell James with a hard hit. Klarc Wilson (whose parents obviously don't know how to spell Clark) came to James' rescue and beat the living crap out of Boland which lead to an Oilers power play.
• Somewhere during this time the Oilers got another penalty but I missed it because my son wanted a glass of water
• On the ensuing penalty kill, Marco Roy got another good chance short handed
• The Oilers got another power play but again because I have no idea who the Canucks prospects are I couldn't tell you who it was
• GOAL - After the penalty expired Curtis Valk scored his second of the game after Brossoit could control the rebound
• With 1 second left in the period Vancouver got a Too Many Men on the Ice penalty

Overtime

The beginning of the OT period was entertaining. The new rules were applied for the OT period. So OT would be 7 minutes long. The first half of the OT would be played 4v4 (but due to the penalty it would be 4v3) after the first whistle after the half way mark of the OT period the teams would play 3v3. The broadcasting crew got really confused about this and could perform basic math. They thought that due to the penalty the teams would play 5v4 until the penalty expired then go to 3v3 after a whistle not realizing that 1:59 was not the half way point of a 7 minute period. Anyway the OT period started with the Oilers be 4v3.

• The Canucks were able to kill of the 4v3
• GOAL - 10 seconds after the penalty expired Mitch Moroz scored his second goal of the game to give the Oilers a 4-3 victory

Game Thoughts

The guys we were all looking out for didn't do as much as we anticipated. Nurse and Daisaitl were kind of quiet, they had their moments but weren't the best players out there. The guy who impressed the most was Vladimir Tkachev, not only did he gain controlled entry of the offensive zone 8 times in the game, his back checking was great.

Beyond the skills of the Hobbit, there were few other guys that stood out for me. Mitch Moroz scored 2 goals. For a 3rd/4th line WHLer that is pretty decent. The other names to mention were Bogdan Yakimov and Marco Roy, both had good games and played like they wanted to make the Oilers this season. No one really stood out for me on defence but other than Gernat no one defenseman looked really bad.

Overall it was an entertaining game and the Oilers rookies won but as we all know that doesn't really mean anything. We can enjoy the win today but then next 8 months are what will really matter.

Up Next

The Oilers rookies play the Flames rookies. This is probably going to be match up of the tournament since both these teams look "strong" in their own ways.