Everyone from Frank Sinatra to George Costanza knows that you always go out on a high. Hit them with something memorable, wave ‘Good night,’ and leave the people wanting more.
And so it was with the Edmonton Oilers Friday as they played their last game at Rogers Place before heading out on a four-game, eight-day road trip. All they needed to do was pistol-whip the 25th-place Anaheim Ducks, wave goodbye and leave a sold-out crowd counting the days until the next home game on Jan. 13.
And, as an added incentive, it was a chance for the Oilers to make up for playing so poorly in that 5-2 loss to these same Ducks just last week, ending a run of seven-straight lopsided wins over Anaheim.
While needing a goal with 1:35 left in regulation to squeak out a 3-2 win wasn’t exactly Celine Dion at Carnegie Hall, the Oilers got the job done. And everyone left the rink happy thanks to Leon Draisaitl’s game-winner in the dying moments.
“A much better team effort (than last time),” said defenceman Darnell Nurse, who contributed a goal and an assist to the cause. “It wasn’t perfect by any means — when you have those leads you want to make sure that you bring them home — but when we were challenged at the end we found a way to get that final blow.”
The Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead, just like they did in Anaheim, on a power play goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and an even-strength marker from Nurse. But, just like the last time they met, Anaheim hung around and kept things interesting (2-1 after 40 minutes).
It was one of those nights where the Oilers failed to convert on a multitude of high-danger chances and you wondered if it might catch up with them later in the night.
Sure enough, it caught up with them at 6:53 of the third period when the Ducks tied it on a power play.
But Draisaitl averted disaster with his league-leading 28th of the season.
“I take big pride in stepping up when it’s needed most.” said Draisaitl. “It’s something that’s really important to me and that I pride myself in.”
Aside from the winning goal, however, Draisaitl wasn’t thrilled with his overall game. Too many turnovers for his liking, which he feels contributed to Anaheim keeping things close.
“We had a lot of good shifts and good looks, their goalie made some big stops,” he said. “But I think, all-in-all, especially on my behalf and my line, there were too many turnovers. It felt like momentum — we would have it then a turnover would happen, and then it would be back-and-forth.
“That was mainly our line tonight, mainly me. It happens. Those games come along every once in a while and you just learn from them.”
Like they said, it was far from perfect, but the Oilers do seem to be winning more of the not-so-perfect games now than earlier in the season.
“Good teams find a way to win,” said Nurse. “Sometimes you go through stretches where you’re not finding those wins but we’re finding ways make big plays in big moments and we have to continue to do that because not every game is going to be perfect.”
The game didn’t have much sizzle to it, but the two points are huge because the Oilers have some catching up to do. Despite going 12-3-1 in their previous 16 games, they still began the day in third place in the Pacific Division, two points behind Los Angeles (Kings are 11-2-2 in their past 15 games for the best points percentage in the NHL since Nov. 27) and eight behind first-place Vegas.
And in the event it comes down to home-ice advantage in a Western Conference Final, the Winnipeg Jets are even farther ahead of Edmonton than the Golden Knights are.
So, there is always going to be an element of urgency to these seemingly mundane mid-season dates with low-end teams.
“We’re going to keep pushing,” said Draisaitl. “It’s no secret we want to win the division, but we have some catching up to do to with Vegas. We’ve got to continue to get better and play our game and build our game and hopefully we can catch them.”
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