Both Carolina and Edmonton entered overtime having yet to score a goal on Monday night. Some late game heroics by Andrej Sekera helped push the Oilers over the hump earning two points for Edmonton in the process. Sekera took a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, took the shot, and followed up on the rebound to help earn the Oilers two very much needed points in the standings.
The Oilers' home stand continues tonight as Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning come to town.
The Oilers are saying
"We just seem more comfortable...It seems like we start games a lot better. We don't wait for the other team to come in here and dictate how the game is going to go, we just kind of go and play"
That's Oilers forward Taylor Hall on his team's home record. The Oilers are 12-7-1 at Rexall compared to a dismal 5-14-2 away from Edmonton.
The opponents are saying
"When we play to our strengths, we're a good team in this League...when we don't -- when we stand around, don't execute, can't make a pass -- you're a below-average team, and it shows" Source
That's Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos on the Lightning's struggle for consistency. At sixth place in the Atlantic, only Toronto and Buffalo trail Tampa Bay in the standings.
Have some of this
Earlier I stated Talbot put up a .941 in his last 10 games. I was wrong, it was .931. Good on @ReidWilkins for catching it. Math is hard.
.931 s'ok too. Talbot and Nilsson are going to have to be lights out in order for this team to have a shot and being anywhere near the dance in April.
4 - The Oilers are four points out of third in the Pacific. The fact that it's January and they haven't been eliminated from looking at the standings and wondering what happens in the next two weeks is a good thing.
4 - Taylor Hall has been selected to play in the NHL All Star Game taking place on Sunday, January 31st. Hall will represent the Pacific Division alongside some of the best players in the game like Joe Pavelski, Johnny Gaudreau and John Scott.
Halfway through the 2015-16 season is in the books and the Oilers have 37 points in 41 games. Double that and you'll get 74 points in 82 games, which is no good. Oilers have to somehow find a way to squeeze 53 points in the next 41 games, or an average of about 13 points per ten games played.
Cam Talbot (7-11-1, .910 SV% / 2.76 GAA / 1 SO) stopped everything in his path on Monday, and he-should get the start tonight. Ben Bishop (15-13-3, .924 SV% / 2.06 GAA / 1 SO) is likely for the Lightning. Bishop was selected to the All-Star Game along with Steven Stamkos
GREAT NEWS - Nail Yakupov will join the Oilers on their upcoming road trip. Yakupov has been out since the end of November after the linesman debacle. Connor McDavid can't be far off.
Connor McDavid (clavicle), Andrew Ference (undisclosed), Nail Yakupov (ankle), and Oscar Klefbom (hand), are out for the Oilers. For the Lightning, Joel Vermin (great name, hand) and defenceman Mattias Ohlund (knee) will be out for today's game.
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