Oilers Out-Classed In St. Louis

I’d been out of the Post Game Thread game for a while, starting up a new semester and getting into the swing of things after the holidays, so I was feeling eager to shake off the rust and get back to picking apart some Oilers games.

And then I remembered they were playing the Blues...

First Period

2:00 Anton Lander with a nice saucer to Klinkhammer who puts it off the post.

4:00 Eberle passes it out front to Hall who gets a high quality scoring chance but can’t beat Allen.

5:00 Berglund just misses the net as the Oilers struggle to exit their own zone.

8:00 The Oilers are having a hard time finding passing lanes out of their own zone as they’ve iced it or dumped it a few times, or have had to sit back and wait for their forwards to find some space.

9:37 Gazdic starts a little kerfuffle on the ice between the two benches. Both him and Ott go off for roughing.

11:00 Petry negates a potential partial break for Steen as he keeps him to the outside.

12:45 The Oilers’ top line has the team’s first period of extended pressure in some time.

13:30 Petry breaks up a centring pass from Lehtera on a Blues rush. He's had a good period.

13:49 Tarasenko beats Scrivens with a trickler. It’s a surprising shot, but not one that should go in.

16:41 Lehtera feeds Backes in front who deflects it top shelf on Scrivens. Despite an uneventful first ten minutes, the game is all of a sudden falling out of the Oilers’ hands early in this one.

17:35 Pouliot hits Cole up high and is called for roughing. It’s an iffy call, but a call nonetheless. Oilers to the PK.

19:14 Lehtera nullifies the end of the Blues’ PP with a holding the stick penalty.

Second Period

0:00 The Oilers start the period on the PP after Lehtera’s late penalty.

2:26 Allen robs a streaking Pouliot off a great pass from Roy into the slot.

5:30 Schwartz with a slick tip off a Jackman shot/pass to beat Scrivens. The Oilers came out strong to start the period, but this goal puts them in a deep hole.

6:27 Scrivens makes a stop on a magical play from Oshie to get it to Pietrangelo in the clear. The Blues’ skill is making the Oilers look helpless. Schultz failed to get back and Eberle got burned as his replacement

8:27 Klinkhammer "bangs and crashes" his way to the penalty box for hooking.

12:40 After an uneventful stretch, Pouliot heads back to the box, this time for high sticking.

13:40 RNH and Purcell do a great job controlling and holding the play in the Blues’ zone during the PK.

18:00 Klefbom ties up Oshie in front of Scrivens to prevent a goal on a nice passing play by that Blues line.

19:50 Jaskin heads to the box on a cut-and-dry tripping call at centre ice.

Third Period

3:30 Roy finds Yakupov in front who gets stopped by Allen. Roy has a dynamite second crack at it but misses the net.

5:20 Hendricks heads off for holding, giving the best power play in the league another chance to extend their lead.

7:44 Jori Lehtera gets called for interference as the Oilers and Blues trade penalties in the third.

8:38 Justin Schultz sends a wrist shot on net from the point on the PP with Pouliot in front, who tips it down past Allen

11:40 Hendricks with a creative play beside the net to spin around and shovel it on Allen, who makes the save.

12:30 Hall plasters Oshie in the neutral zone.

14:30 Pietrangelo sends Steen in alone and he misses the net.

17:01 Alex Steen rips one home right off an offensive zone draw to put the Blues up 4-1.

18:04 Benoit Pouliot answers with a perfect shot to make it 4-2. Assists to Purcell and Roy.

20:00 The game ends with some face punching by Backes and Pouliot.

In Conclusion

I guess you could say the Oilers woke up in the third period, though it didn’t make much of a difference for the road team tonight. Despite playing from behind for just under fifty minutes of the game, the Oilers lost the SOG battle by an abysmal 15-29 margin, and managed an ES CF% of only 43.48. Suffice to say there wasn’t enough of a push-back from the boys in Copper and Blue.

Next up, they pay a visit to the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning in Tampa Bay.