The way the Edmonton Oilers rolled into Ottawa and imposed their will on the nation’s capital Tuesday night you half expected their bank accounts would be frozen by the time they got home.
Yup, the only things missing were honking horns and bouncy castles as the Oilers convoy, rediscovering the offence that had been missing for so long, stormed out to a 3-1 lead in the first period and coasted to a 5-2 decision over the host Senators.
The Oilers own this town, going 8-1-1 in their last 10 trips to Ottawa.
Speaking of castles, this was a huge bounce back game for the Oilers. Despite looking a mess at times during the first two games of the trip — blowing a third-period lead in an overtime loss in Toronto and being shut out 3-0 in Montreal — they emerge from the eastern swing with a .500 (1-1-1) record.
“I thought it was a resilient effort,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “It wasn’t easy, a lot of travel, playing back-to-back and they were rested. We were a little behind the 8-ball but we just found a way to get it done tonight. That’s all it was about and it was a great sign for our group.”
The club desperately needed a win to steady its ship, so head coach Kris Knoblauch reassembled the ‘We’re in Trouble’ line, putting McDavid and Leon Draisaitl together from the start. The dynamic duo led the way with three points each as the Oilers plugged the holes in their leaky ship and returned to Edmonton with a 10-8-2 record.
“It was massive, if we didn’t (win) it would have been a pretty ugly road trip, especially playing all the Canadian teams, you want to show up for those,” said goalie Stuart Skinner. “Being able to get off to a good start in the first period was a big help.”
BOUCHARD REBOUND
Evan Bouchard had a brutal two games in Toronto and Montreal to start the trip, but he got Edmonton on the board with a spectacular goal in Ottawa, going end-to-end and picking the top corner just 3:46 into the first period. Bouchard, who’d gone pointless in seven of his previous eight games, had a goal and two assists in the first period.
“Beautiful goal,” said McDavid. “Bouch is a great player, so patient with it, never in a rush. You could see both of those things on that goal. Beautiful move and a beautiful finish.”
PLAYING THE HUNCH
Vasily Podkolzin is another player who’d been taking heat, mostly for eating up space in the top six while producing just three assists in 19 games. Just as the calls for a demotion were reaching a crescendo, Podkolzin got promoted to the first line with McDavid and Draisaitl and picked up two assists in the first period.
“He’s hard on the forecheck, he’s able to make a nice pass on the breakout,” said Knoblauch. “He goes to the net in the offensive zone so those guys can play with the puck and make those passes. The intangibles are really good. He’s been doing all the little things right from Day One.”
SKIN IN THE GAME
Skinner had a tidy effort in goal, stopping 27 of 29 shots to go 4-1-1 in his last six starts. He wasn’t happy after his loss in Toronto but, like the rest of the team, fought back hard.
“It always looks like you’re defending much better when your goalie makes huge saves,” said Knoblauch. “Skinner, I thought, was really the difference. He played an outstanding game. It’s unfortunate that last one (high stick) was allowed, but he played a great game.”
THE KILL SHOT
Continuing on the redemption theme, the power play, which sat 24th in the league and had gone 3-for-16 over the previous seven games, connected late in the first period to give Edmonton a 3-1 lead at the first intermission. A particularly weak faceoff violation call by linesman Derek Nansen gave Edmonton a two-man advantage for 1:58 and McDavid’s second of the night helped the Oilers pull away.
DROP ‘EM
Zack MacEwen (6-4, 227) and Josh Brown (6-5, 220) had a great first-period scrap. It’s the Oilers eighth fight of the season and first since Podkolzin and Ty Emberson both had scraps against Nashville on Halloween night. The Oilers are 6-0 in games where there’s a fight and 4-8-2 in games where there isn’t one.
LATE HITS
The Oilers, already minus Darnell Nurse and Viktor Arvidsson, were without Zach Hyman for the third period after he took a hit late in the second. “It wasn’t good enough to return,” Knoblauch said of the ailment. “We’ll see how he’s doing, but no update.” … Edmonton picked up right winger Kasperi Kapanen off waivers from the St, Louis Blues. Kapanen has one goal in 10 games this season and had six goals in 73 games last year. He’ll bring some speed to a forward group that’s lacking it.
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