A bit extra point tonight and only because of Skinner's work in OT on 2-3 very good chances for the Blues.
We certainly do not make it easy on ourselves, do we.
The OT might be my fault.
Every single time I go to a game in a major league for the first time it goes to OT.
Happened in the NBA, NFL and now the NHL.
That said, I genuinely got a bit emotional today. First live Oilers (and NHL game), with a win, a great performance by the guy whose jersey a was wearing (Skinner) and I got a puck!!!! It was also the first time I sang the National Anthem at a public event, as a Canadian citizen. Lots of core memories being created today. The energy in the arena was absolutely fantastic, the random convos, celebrating with strangers like they were family...
To echo the sentiment of the Twitter thread we were commenting on before, moments like these are a reminder of why I love this city, and how hockey and the Oilers are a big part of that.
That's it, end of emotional babble.
Now to the game itself:
I partially agree with whoever said that they are not impressed with Perry lately. He's been a non-factor in the past couple of games, it's true. But I also believe that the line shuffles have impacted his productivity.
I also believe he'll be a more valuable asset in the playoffs, or in games vs gritty, physical teams, where emotions run high (big rivalries).
Draisatl has been ALL OVER THE ICE the whole game. His backcheck has been particularly outstanding, but overall, he's playing a 200ft game, every shift, for the past 2 games, at least. Same for McDavid. I will not be shocked if 97 wins the Selke this year.
Nurse and Ceci seem to no longer have any chemistry whatsoever. I counted at least 5 times when they skated into each other's ways and generated turnovers or disrupted what could've been a good start to a play up the ice. We need to upgrade on Ceci, SOON!
Bouchard needs to cut back on the turnovers and giveaways. He'll end up costing us games, when Stu and Ekholm (and today, Draisatl and McDavid, more than once) can't bail him out. I get it that he's an offensive d-man, b7t he's still a d-man.
We DESPERATELY NEED to upgrade the bottom 6. Janmark, Foegele and McLeod are too streaky, Brown cannot score to save his life and Holloway is too inexperienced. I know Foegele has been playing top 6, but he's not a legit top 6 forward.
Anyways, a win is a win, and that's what matters right now. But we need pieces to help win a cup.
