McDavid and Talbot Lead Oilers Over Canucks

When Talbot gave up a goal from centre vs the Sabres, there was a bit of a collective groan from the Oilers fan base. He had played okay his first couple of games, but it's safe to say that game was a stinker. The fan base expected him to bounce back, but this is getting borderline ridiculous.

Talbot posted his 2nd shutout in his last 3 games and won his 5th straight start. Since the buffalo game, he hasn't given up more than 2 goals in any start, and even that happened just once.

When your goalie is this hot, winning games and banking points becomes all the more essential. It's going to be impossible for the Oilers to get this level of goaltending for the remainder of the season, but picking up 14 points in 8 games will give them some breathing room for when it starts to even out.

Connor McDavid continues to be an absolute beast. He's currently leading the NHL in scoring and he does nothing but make everyone else on the ice look like they are standing still while he helps generate chance after chance. You'd figure at some point teams would take away the middle on him, but he keeps beating them to the good spots on the ice, whether it's in the neutral zone or offensive zone. Talk of him being the best player in the league prior to the season is looking spot on.

Overall, the Oilers played a decent game, but there were some major breakdowns that lead to some high quality chances for the Canucks. Wide open shots right in front from cross ice passes were either denied by Talbot, or the Canucks misfired (specifically Baerstchi with less than 4 minutes left).

A positive in this game for the Oilers was how they limited the Sedin's. Yes they are slowing down, but even in recent years the twins have given the Oilers fits, specifically on the cycle. For the first time in a long while, the Sedin's were basically invisible, not generating much at all and nothing really very close to being dangerous. It's always a positive when your team can gain traction against a team or a player who tends to run their show (damn you Stempniak!!!).

The Oilers keep winning games and banking important points. You can't make the playoffs in October, but as the Oilers have shown, you can sure as heck miss them. Things are going to level out a bit, but a hot start keeps you in the thick of things for a lot longer. You lose 2 or 3 in a row when you are a .500 team and the world feels like it's collapsing. You lose 2 or 3 in a row with this kind of cushion and you can kind of shake it off and realize that you are still in a great position, you just need to turn it around.