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Oilers 2 Avalanche 3 - Rough slopes tonight

For the fourth game in a row, the Oilers are on the short end of the stick.

By Zach Laing
Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

The Recap


The Good

The Oilers started off the game strong. After Zack Kassian and Cody McLeod dropped the gloves only a mere 2:46 into the game. Kassian definitely got the team going that fight, and Taylor Hall was able to capitalize on a loose rebound from a Leon Draisaitl shot. The Oilers got the first goal in the game for the first time in four games, which is a definite positive to pull out of tonight. Outside of that, there wasn't much to be happy about. It's been a real tough few games for the Oilers but now the team needs to learn how to keep that lead and finish hockey games.

The Bad

Penalties. Penalties. Penalties. When will it end? I know the reffing was poor, but the penalties that Nurse and Fayne took in the second were real killers. I thought despite being down, the Oilers had a strong second period. The fact that those penalties forced us to defend a 5-3 killed any sort of momentum the team had. After that, the team was never able to get back into the game.

The penalty called on Taylor Hall was pretty brutal and there wasn't much Hall could do after being drove into Calvin Pickard. Again, this penalty came during a time where the Oilers were actually playing some of their better hockey in the game.

It's another really disappointing loss.

The Ugly

Pulling Cam Talbot with four minutes left in the game is ugly. At the same time, the Oilers poured it on late in the game and actually were able to put themselves back into the game. I mean, it was a longshot to get another goal that late in the game, but hey, at least the scoresheet is easier on the eyes. The performance on the ice was horrible and having your goalie out with four minutes left just shows that Todd wants this team to score more goals. At the end of the day, few teams in the league have a top six similar to the one the Oilers have. It really is disappointing to see that the Oilers are still unable to get consistent scoring out of this team.

Next up for the Oilers is a match Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators, which is a team that the Oilers have had some success against lately. Hopefully the Oilers can repeat the 7-2 performance they had against the Sens on Feb 4.