To most NHL teams, the road is not a very kind place. Hostile crowds, unfamiliar ice surfaces and extensive travels almost always take their toll. The 2010 Edmonton Oilers, however, are apparently the exception to this rule. After dropping back to back home games, the Oilers, led by the rookie phenom Hall, picked up their lone win of the week last night in Anaheim, clipping the Ducks by a score of 4-2.
Wednesday night at Rexall Place, the Oilers took on the resurgent Chicago Blackhawks (yes, them again) and dropped their fifth in a row, getting shut out to the tune of 5-0. Edmonton highlights from this one are non-existent, as the young club simply was not ready to play when the puck dropped. A 47-shot effort from the Hawks only made matters worse, as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and never looked back. The only bright spot for Hall Monitors such as myself was the sight of Taylor on the 1st Edmonton unit alongside veteran Shawn Horcoff and fellow rookie Jordan Eberle. With players around him who can dish the puck, Hall is sure to start finding the back of the net with a bit more regularity.
Friday night was time for the much anticipated “bounce back” game, or so Oiler fans everywhere hoped. And although the boys dropped their 6th straight, the effort level was far more impressive than Wednesday’s, as they fell by a just 4-3 score after a 5 round shootout.
After staking themselves to a 3-0 lead midway through the 2nd stanza, the Oilers coughed up 3 unanswered Phoenix goals to knot the game, with the equalizer coming just 35 seconds prior to the final buzzer. A tough break for sure, but an important lesson in persistence for the youthful team to learn. And though Hall himself picked up an assist and led all Edmonton forwards with 17:30 of even-strength ice time, perhaps the most vital lesson he learned was to never, ever take a professional game for granted. As one of many Oilers to ease up on the gas pedal and allow for the Coyote comeback, I’m willing to bet that Coach Renney had a few choice words for his prized possession in the postgame locker room. Not anything vindictive, but rather a teaching point for the future of the hometown club.
As the boys hit the road for a Sunday night tilt in Anaheim, Friday night’s collapse was clearly weighing heavy on the minds of all players, namely Taylor Hall. Hitting the ice with guns blazing, the Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind goals from Hall and fellow youngster Sam Gagner. Hall’s 2nd period snipe, his 4th of the year, offered an eye-popping glimpse of exactly why he was taken by the Oilers with their 1st overall selection. After taking a nifty feed from defenseman Ryan Whitney inside the left circle, Hall wheeled and ripped a blistering snap shot into the upper left corner that left Duck netminder Jonas Hiller wondering what had just happened. Clearly feeding off the momentum of his beautiful goal, Hall pounded the net for the entire night, finishing with team-high 6 shots on goal and taking away 2nd Star of the Game honors.
Though the Ducks were able to come back with a pair of their own goals to tie the game at 2, the Oilers’ ability to maintain their composure was the deciding factor. Ales Hemsky tallied the winner on a top corner rocket at 13:29 of the 3rd period followed by one of the more bizarre plays you’ll ever see in an NHL arena to put them up 4-2 and ice the game. Video of the 4th goal can be seen below, but before signing off I implore everyone to tune in this week as the Oilers embark on a tough 3 game stretch that takes them to Phoenix on Tuesday and back home for games on Thursday and Sunday against Colorado and San Jose, respectively. The way this team rolled on Sunday night, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a stretch of competitive, high-octane hockey. Until next week….
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