Saturdays as a child had a certain excitement about them during the winter months. We lived 17 miles north of Maidstone, Saskatchewan and it was early 1970’s. Back then, kids had something called “chores” and that involved bringing in two buckets of coal (filthy stuff, I’ll never go near coal again if I have the choice) and help with the goats (dad milked the goats, my brother and I looked after the feed and cleaned up the pens).
I would spend the day dreaming of a world where the Montreal Canadiens lost hockey games 30 times a winter and where Ken Dryden lost to the Boston Bruins in the ’71 playoffs. Stampede Wrestling came on late afternoon, then Bugs Bunny, then Hockey Night in Canada. I anticipated that lineup with pure glee at that point in my life, even though the wrestling meant taking a sound beating from my brother.
No school Saturday, and in winter not much traffic. The mornings were so cold my Dad used to tell me not to go outside and play until it warmed up. Silly to think of now, but -40 happened often winter 1971 in that part of the planet. It’s quiet at -40, everything is cold, clear and still. Walking is a noisy business at that temperature, the winter boots crunching on the hard snow makes a helluva sound when there’s nothing else out there.
My Dad told me 400 percent of your body heat left via the top of your head, and he was stretching the truth but not by much. I’d play hockey with my brother if he wasn’t doing something, alone when he was working or working on trying to get “Donna” to go out with him. It was less fun without him, but hockey on Saturday on the driveway at our house was a tradition September to April every year. Saw horse for the net, two 10-gallon cans for the goalie, soft rubber puck to reduce bruising (did zero good because, as mentioned, it was minus 40) and play until your lungs were frozen.
If my brother played, he was Bruins, I was Leafs and the Habs didn’t play. If he was gone to Donna’s, I got to be the Bruins and those cans were the Habs and took a helluva beating. Keith Schwartz would drive by once in a while and yell “HE SCORES!” out his truck window at me, and I’d smile.
When you’re 17 miles from nowhere, and it’s Saturday afternoon alone in December of 1971, chores done, beating the living hell out of Sam Pollock’s Montreal Canadiens with a frozen rubber puck and a Sherwood hockey stick is the most natural thing in the world.
Years later, now in town and two doors from the Maidstone arena, I’d walk over Saturday nights after HNIC to catch the last period plus of the Jets versus Turtleford (it always seemed to be Turtleford). Their best player? Keith Schwartz. I can still here the sound of the puck hitting sticks and skates slicing through ice, and my feet still get cold just thinking about how frozen it was in that rink.
In 1971 Maidstone, the gap between being frozen at indoor rinks and outdoor rinks was razor thin. Never had a problem with heat going out the top of my head though, because 400 percent goes straight out the top of your head in cold weather. Dad should have mentioned footwear more often.
It’s Hockey Night in Canada. We get two games instead of one, and we’re going to be home and dry. There’s nowhere I’d rather be tonight.
THE ATHLETIC!
- New Lowetide: What Evan Bouchard’s move up the depth chart means for the Oilers’ defensive pairings
- Lowetide: How hot streaks, shuffles and slumps will determine the fate of the Oilers’ second line in 2021-22
- Jonathan Willis: Evan Bouchard’s evolution, in context
- Lowetide: Zach Hyman’s buzzsaw style makes him an instant Oilers fan favourite
- DNB: Comparing the Oilers’ 5-0-0 start this season to their 5-0-0 start in 2019-20
- Lowetide: Oilers prospect Philip Broberg showing his potential
- Lowetide: Should Jesse Puljujarvi drive his own line for the Oilers in 2021-22?
- New DNB: He’s a one-shot scorer’: Oilers prospect Carter Savoie thriving at DU
- Lowetide: The Oilers finally have an effective third line — so how should they deploy it?
- Jonathan Willis: Success or failure for the Oilers could depend on their Duncan Keith-Cody Ceci tandem
- DNB: Evan Bouchard subscriber Q&A
- Lowetide: First impressions of 2021-22 Oilers — is this strong start sustainable?
- Lowetide: Which Oilers AHL players are most likely to be called up in 2021-22?
- DNB: The Battle of Alberta gets heated
- Lowetide: Evan Bouchard is going to be the Oilers’ secret weapon in 2021-22 — and he’s already showing why
- DNB: How the Oilers’ new-look second line wears down opponents and makes a difference.
- Lowetide: Amazing opening night facts on players, past and present, from Oilers opening night rosters
- DNB: New Oilers forward Zach Hyman may have a higher pay grade, but his style isn’t changing
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers final roster cuts
- Lowetide: How Ken Holland is increasing the Oilers’ talent pool, and why fans are nervous about it
- Lowetide: When will the Edmonton Oilers fully embrace analytics?
- Jonathan Willis: How the 2021-22 Oilers mirror their coach’s best teams from the past
- Lowetide: What might Oilers do if Kailer Yamamoto’s goal scoring slump continues?
WHAT TO EXPECT IN OCTOBER
- At home to: VCR, CAL, ANA (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
- On the road to: ARI, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- At home to: PHI (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- On the road to: VCR (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 5-2-0, 10 points in seven games
- Actual results: 5-1-0, 10 points in six games
A loss tonight means my prediction for October will be correct, but if I’m reading the room correctly you don’t really care about that part of tonight’s result. My guess is Edmonton wins this evening, but the Canucks under Travis Green are not an easy out.
One other thing: The Pacific division is bad. Very very bad. I think there are four good teams and three of them are from Canada. Maybe Seattle Kraken kick out the jams, but this feels like we’re going to see four teams chasing three spots from Christmas to two weeks past Easter.
THE FORWARDS
The top line is roaring at five on five, with Jesse Puljujarvi’s 4.72 points-60 ranking him No. 5 among all NHL forwards who have played 40 or more minutes this season. Connor McDavid’s 3.11 is also brilliant, while Zach Hyman’s 1.57 shows he is heading in a good direction (one goal in each of the last two games). The chem on this line is starting to happen. Three men over 2.00 points-60 at year’s end? Seems reasonable. The line is 2-3 goals at five on five this year.
The second line features Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2.2), Leon Draisaitl (3.05) and Kailer Yamamoto (0.00) and one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn’t the same. KY had wrist surgery in May 2019 and by December of that year was recalled to the NHL. He thrived on this very line from January to March 2020, but hasn’t reached those dizzying heights since. He needn’t be that dominant, but has to deliver something around 1.75 points-60 if he is to stay on this line. There’s a lot of luck tied up in goals, maybe light a candle or two for young Mr. Yamamoto today. This trio is 2-0 on the ice together five on five, Edmonton is 5-9 goals without these three men. Leon is 5-2 goals when he’s on the ice.
The third line has been scoring well so far this season. Warren Foegele (2.53), Derek Ryan (0.90) and Zack Kassian (3.83) are having varied degrees of success, and some of it came with other players at center. As a line, this group is 53.7 in shot differential but 3-5 goals at five on five. That’s pretty high event. Edmonton is 9-9 five on five goals without this trio on the ice.
The fourth line is a little all over the place, with Brendan Perlini, Devin Shore, Colton Sceviour, Kyle Turris and Tyler Benson all taking part so far this year. Ryan McLeod has also played two games. The line is 0-1 goals, but Shore and Turris were the only members of the line who were on the ice at the time. There are no goals from this line, and based on yesterday’s practice we can expect Benson-Shore Turris tonight. Benson can pass the puck with aplomb.
DEFENSE
Darnell Nurse-Evan Bouchard hasn’t played together a lot but it’s been a successful combination. In 53 minutes, the pairing is on the right side of the shot (63 percent) and goal (3-2) share. Nurse is at 0.49 points-60, a low total for him, Bouchard is at 1.25 and this is his first full season. Edmonton is 6-6 without these men on the ice, Bouchard is 2-1 sans Nurse, who is 2-5 without Bouchard.
Duncan Keith-Cody Ceci have played more together (92 minutes) than any other pairing and are 4-4 goals. The shot share (43.5 percent) is poor. The Oilers are 9-9 when these two men are on the bench, Ceci has an extra goal against five on five (he was on the ice with Nurse).
Slater Koekkoek-Tyson Barrie have played 13 minutes together, 1-1 goals. Barrie is 4-5 without Koekkoek, who is also 1-1 goals without Barrie. The Oilers are 7-7 goals without these men. Barrie is a real talent offensively and owns a 1.3 points-60 so far this season. Koekkoek has yet to register a point. Kris Russell has a 2.6 points-60, that’s an assist in the Vegas game. He is 1-1 goals.
GOALIES
Mikko Koskinen is 3-1-0 and his save percentage is .926, that’s good goaltending. I don’t believe he’ll be in Edmonton’s net past the deadline, but do believe he has as good a chance as Smith to lead the Oilers in save percentage this year.
Mike Smith is 2-0-0 with a .920 save percentage and in the last two regular seasons he is posting .923 SP and owns a 23-6-2 record. Hard to argue with those numbers, the worry is the number 40. He’ll get there in March of next year. I believe he’ll be an Oilers goalie next season.
Stuart Skinner may get the start tonight. If the organization wants to see him in action 10 times this season, and remember he’s waiver eligible next fall, tonight would be a reasonable evening to see him make his debut for this season. An inexpensive backup goaltender would be a valuable thing next year, the final season of Duncan Keith’s deal. A deadline deal for additional help in spring 2023 might be the way to go. It starts with giving Skinner playing time.
RESPECT
The Edmonton Oilers lost a winnable game and there is lots to work on before Saturday. The 5-0-0 start buys the team some separation, so losing two points to a non-conference rival isn’t the end of the world.
At some point the goalie position is going to need an upgrade. I think Mikko Koskinen can stop enough pucks to stay in the league, but don’t believe he’ll be stopping them for Edmonton in the playoffs.
For his Oilers career, Mike Smith’s save percentage is .912. Mikko Koskinen’s is .909. One guy has a contract for next season, the other does not have a contract for 2022-23. I do believe Edmonton will add a stronger option by the deadline.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN OCTOBER
- At home to: VCR, CAL, ANA (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 3-0-0)
- On the road to: ARI, VEG (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 2-0-0)
- At home to: PHI (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- On the road to: VCR (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected result: 5-2-0, 10 points in seven games
- Actual results: 5-1-0, 10 points in six games
The Oilers didn’t get blown out, and left countless chances out there. Kyle Turris missed the Grand Canyon late on a fantastic pass by Evan Bouchard and Jesse Puljuarvi had several wonderful looks. We should see a more precise team on Saturday.
GOALIE
Koskinen didn’t look sharp and the Flyers have several impressive shooters, that’s a recipe for trouble. Smith has the two-year deal and the lower cap hit, so Koskinen makes more sense as the deadline exit. I don’t think there’s a giant gap between the two goalies, although Dave Tippett likes Smith and that’s probably reason enough to choose him over the Finn. Coaches are people, too.
DEFENSE
Darnell Nurse-Evan Bouchard played 17:46, went 16-9 shots and 1-2 goals. This pairing was on the ice for both Atkinson goals, the first one was just great hand eye after Nurse failed to send the puck out of the scoring zone. The second was a goal Koskinen has to have, between the legs from range at a tough scoring angle. Not good.
Nurse had four shots, four giveaways and two takeaways, he was 1-3 five on five goals. Bouchard had four shots, three takeaways, two giveaways and many strong headman passes. My goodness he’s a skilled player.
The first goal was against Nurse-Ceci, with Nurse having position on a scrambly play but Ceci unable to beat Giroux to the front of the net on a wraparound. Koskinen not strong.
Duncan Keith-Cody Ceci played 14:36, going 5-7 shots and no goals against. Keith had three giveaways (lots of giveaways in the game) and two takeaways, a shot on goal and was a miserable piece of work defensively. Ceci had two shots, no giveaways but hammers the puck instead of getting it through. Bouchard is going to spoil Oilers fans for other blue with point shots.
Slater Koekkoek-Tyson Barrie played 10:27, going 5-7 shots and 1-1 goals. The goal against was the Ty Conklin flashback from Koskinen, it was a mess.
Koekkoek had a giveaway and a takeaway, Barrie scored a gorgeous goal and assisted on McDavid’s power-play marker. Barrie had plenty of chaos but it was far from the madding crowd. I don’t blame him for whatever Koskinen did on the Thompson goal.
FORWARDS
Nuge-Draisaitl-Yamamoto played 12:49, going 7-4 shots and 1-0 goals. Nuge had it going all night, posting two more assists and narrowly missing on a partial breakaway. He had some jump. Draisaitl was good for one assist and a couple of giveaways, he seems to be reducing those back passes, hawks are looking for them. He played an enormous amount. Yamamoto committed some subtle interference seconds before the Barrie goal, but had just one shot on goal. My article for The Athletic focuses on him, there’s some concern there. If the third line struggles, we could see a switch.
Hyman-McDavid-Puljujarvi played 11:49, going 10-7 shots and 1-1 goals. All three men were involved, Hyman scoring a goal, several shots on goal, drew a penalty. McDavid drew one, too (huzzah!), plus went 1-1-2 on the night, nine shots on goal and Carter Hart stopped eight. Puljujarvi had more 10-bell chances than anyone to my eye, took some big hits, too. Had one lonely assist, earned more.
Foegele-Ryan-Kassian played 8:58, going 3-5 shots and 0-2 goals. The line was on the for Thompson fiasco and the late first-period goal.
Fourth line didn’t play much, Turris had a fantastic chance late. Damn.
YOU CAN STUFF YOUR SORRIES IN A SOCK, MISTER!!
What do you do with a game like this? I think you let it go. Open up the back door, breathe out and let it be. You can’t win all the games, the biggest issue is known and even with that problem you damn near got it to overtime.
Koskinen was not sharp, but the Oilers did miss some great chances, too. If you can trade for a goalie upgrade today, then go for it. I don’t think it’s out there, and Koskinen will have a cap hit of $1 million or so at the deadline.
The third pair needs some help and I would slide Tyler Benson on to the fourth line Saturday. The problem is he doesn’t play center, and Devin Shore got slammed 0-7 shots at five on five last night. Calling Ryan McLeod?
I know the Yamamoto demotion is coming, doesn’t mean I have to like it.
If you haven’t seen the interview, know that it is the most searing thing I can recall and there will be tears involved when you do. Sadness, rage, empathy and the urge to seek justice are all likely to follow. Most Canadians my age will remember Graham James, that was 25 years ago. I witnessed an account from a co-worker 15 years before that about being abused, and it has stayed with me since.
Same question each time: How could this happen?
This week is a lot about how much all of us are willing to sacrifice at the alter of hockey before saying enough. Does there need to be a camera covering every inch of the rink? Does there need to be more than two people in every meeting or interaction?
This is beyond disgusting. We need to have more than a conversation. What would need to happen beyond this for us give up this national sport forever? Maybe tearing it down and starting over is a good idea.
Watch that Kyle Beach interview. Watch that man from Kelowna break over the guilt of knowing another was abused after him.
Then tell me you’re a hockey fan. Enough. Enough.
Honest question, Why is nobody calling out Marc Bergevin, then director of player personnel for the CBH in 2010? I realize he wasn’t “in the meeting” But if the players are getting grilled…why is Bergevin teflon?
Memo to Calgary Flames:
Thank you for the consideration by starting off the season on a tear after Oilers beat you down…
However, Oilers are a First Class Contender for the Conference now, and therefore do not need you to trouble yourselves further. After all, you will need to conserve your energy for the race for a Wildcard spot.
Lowe+MacT
Drai was 5 of 19 on the dot tonight. The team was 50%.
97 with NINE shots on net.
Also, this is why you don’t trust Road stats… Oilers credited with 1—one!—takeaway tonight.
This sure is sweet. I lived in Vancouver for 10 years and frequented the Black Frog for Oilers games. That place is a gem. I can’t say how irritating a hockey town that city can be. It’s like the Dunning-Kruger central for hockey: ignorance + arrogance + the blessing of great teams from 2007-2017. It’s so pleasing to see that team achieve nothing but a riot on a full talent cycle.
I absolutely hate that city! It’s dirty. It’s racist. It’s boring. Good riddance!
I expect Vancouver is saying the same about you.
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-quality-living-march-2019
Top 10 cities in North America for quality of living
Who says? The Victoria Real Estate Times?
Most of these are plagued with traffic congestion, massive homeless issues, lack of affordability, and are dirty. Maybe fun places to go for a weekend but daily living? No thanks.
I loved living in Montréal. One can really set up a car-less life there. Inexpensive wine & dining, culture, all the big city amenities. It was so much better than Van. I’m stuck in Victoria because my wife is from here but we’ve resolved to retire in Mtl.
You are one sad, sad human being. Stop taking things so personally…. he criticized a city and you feel the need to criticize him? Childish.
That sad human being went on a childish, racist rant against one of the world’s greatest cities as ranked by numerous independent agencies.
And, it’s not personal, I don’t live there but have in the past as well as both Calgary and Edmonton.
It’s no accident that Vancouver (and the rest of BC) is populated by huge numbers of ex-Albertans.
Lord knows there are scores of them on this very blog.
I can attest to Vancouver being a nightmare if you aren’t a part of the few ethnicities populating the area. The racism is suffocating. Here in Victoria, it’s a massive improvement. I left that garbage hole and never looked back. I guess that makes me sad.
How you arrive at the position that I went on a racist rant is beyond me. Trust the troll to twist things so anything can mean anything. This is a new low for you DSF.
Daily Hive? Man, put in some effort to be actually academically defensible. Here’s a real study, and Vancouver didn’t make it.
https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2020/cities-and-happiness-a-global-ranking-and-analysis/
I don’t mind Vancouver (or any city for that matter) a city and a home is what you make of it.
Although, I do find Vancouver unaffordable on my budget so I wouldn’t consider living there myself.
I was there one year the Dys were being eliminated by the Ducks in the playoffs. I was at a bar with the game on and most of the fans seemed to know they’d lose and stopped caring about hockey the moment the game was over. It was funny though.
Flames beat the Flyers playing their 7th game in 5 nights
Damn Flames won’t let oiler fans enjoy anything. Sutter has them playing like a team to root for. Underdogs. Scrappy. Reminds me of the 06 Oilers. I hate it. Great for hockey.
That is one hell of a schedule…
Doubleheaders are real killers in hockey.
Big game for Mikko and his confidence.
tippet and crew let poor old miko down at the end trying to pad their stats…that was annoying and needless…a shutout is a stat also friends!
If memory serves, we’ve killed something like 17 straight penalties? Does that sound right? PK 19-2, 89.5% is what the interwebs are telling me.
Special teams success is big part of Oilers winning record.
That PK is solid. Ryan, Foegle, Hyman… we have an embarrassment of special teams riches this year.
Not that I miss him, but our resident troll sure is silent. I think this just goes to show how childish he is – seems to think that he needs to be here to temper positive Oiler bias but runs away as soon as they beat his team.
DSF, you are just so predictable bud..
You called?
Was busy watching the game not rubbing one out.
So you happily respond to the given title? Also, how much of your day is spent fighting this losing battle?
He’s punch drunk.
Plus he’s a flames fan on Sportsnet so he’ll be trolling over there tonight.
And we wait for the rest of the Kindergarten Kids to arrive and another uplifting thread develops.
Now now,
I’m sure you were doing both.
gross dude
Of course you weren’t rubbing one out – the Canucks lost.
Kindergarten post. Grow up.
My post is absolutely no worse than any of his. I hope you apply your disgust to him as well.
Give Koski credit, he was very good in net tonight, and needed that after the last game.
I’m usually one to jump on him for weak play. He was solid if not a calming presence back there tonight. No excitement playing the puck and great positioning. I hope to see more of this.
Good road game?
😂 🤣 😂
Hell yeah, it was!
Pretty good game all around. McDavid was electric.
Koskinen was a wall.
Good effort all around for the D-core. Everyone was solid.
Draisaitl had the PP goal and a whole bunch of plays dying on his stick.
Oilers win. Riders win. It’s been a good night.
Happiness in the Lowetide household tonight!
That last goal notwithstanding, that was a statement game for Koskinen.
It’s too late for it to mean a lot, but there’s not much more he could have done.
At times he’s looked a little unsure or lost with the Keith-Ceci pair. I’m happy to see that they’ve all figured out how to make quick plays together.
Knew that shutout wasn’t happening. Koski deserved it, but its been that kind of year.
What kind of year? Mikko is 3-1 and the Oilers are 6-1.
What I mean is; small things not going the way they ‘should’, because Oilers. Yes, Koski has a good record, a good sv%, and the Oilers are 6-1, but there have been games they’ve been a bit lucky to get the 2 points, and times when Koski has made great saves, but let in questionable goals.
Also meaning; just in general, the past year or so has been.. off. Even when good things happen (like an Oilers win), there’s a tiny fly in the ointment, because, well, that’s life these days, it seems.
Koski had at least one luck bounce resulting in misses by the Canucks. I’m not sure you could say he was robbed of the shutout. Obv you need some luck in this day and age for a SO, even against a mediocre team.
Oilers are starting to run on all cylinders.
The Lowe+MacT Oilers are history.
They have at least 3 premiere players other than McDavid in Drai, JP, and Nurse.
Keith, Ceci, Foegele, Perlini have all contributed to the improvement significantly.
Bouchard leads a pipeline of better defencemen than Oilers have had in forever.
I could go on.
ps: Even Kassian is playing like he’s on the team lol
That’s too bad for Koskinen – a shutout would have been great
He played well and a couple of stellar saves late
Another 2 points in the bank
That GA has to sting, Koski deserved the shutout.
Quality of competition matters; when you’re playing a shitty team like Vancouver you better win.
Vancouver’s record will improve when they play more home games….
Once they weaponize their home cooked meals they will be unstoppable.
At least it wasn’t on his glove side?
Tippett should not have had Draisaitl out there. He was gassed. But it doesn’t matter.
Lost 3 face offs in a row there too. Wouldn’t it have been worth going to Ryan at some point…?
Yes. Foegele-Ryan-McDavid would have been the play there.
I think it matters. Leon was playing for points trying to make some kind of blind backhand pass. He could have just dumped it.
Screwed his goalie out of a shutout.
He always cheats for offence there. He takes risks to intercept a less than perfect pass. He often gets caught out of position as a result. I’m surprised Tip still goes to him after all this time… yet here we are.
It just might be that Hart trophy that means so much to Wily Dave Tippett.
Yeah, that’s all true. I just meant that they got the win and that’s all that really matters. We won’t remember the blown shutout at the end of the year (only Mikko will).
He needed to score on the open net. He’s useless at it.
Wow not getting the shutout must be crushing
Poor Mikko.
Damn….
Phenomenal bounce back from Koskinen. Even though his team let him down at the end again.
Yea great bounce back game.
Strange personnel choice by Tippett. Wanted the EN goal
Koskinen
Ceci…..
Huge
Mikko with some excellent goaltending to wrap this one up.
challenging out of his crease to stop the point blank slot shot
Ceci gave that away just so Mikko could make that massive save.
Not a smart play by Nurse.
Of course….
You knew something like this was coming. the Doctor sits in the waiting room for 2
4 minute goalie pull? Excellent…
I’d probably pull the goalie early against us too
Wow early goalie pull
I’ve seen that become a lot more common this year. Honestly, I like seeing it.
Oilers are not averaging 37 shots, they are giving up an average of 37 shots.
It looks like most of McDavid’s shots are straight to Demko’s belly button. With Demko off the ice that should be less of an obstruction.
Someone is going to destroy Garland on one of those spinoramas if he keeps using them
paging nurse
Garland is a very unlikeable player.
He has a good shot he’ll score 20-23 goals
Insane pace to this game. HDSCs galore but the keepers are making the score lie.
Jaxon has been right all along.
Benson needs to play with a skill centre, and will flourish with a natural shooter on the other wing.
Too slow both physically and in terms of thinking the game for the NHL.
That’s true for literally every passing winger.
Best the fourth line has looked since the regular season has started. I like the physicality Benson added.
Demko is getting annoying.
Bouchard is a point magnet
Connor wants another point!
Wow, McDavid stopped point blank, what 4 times so far?
Looks like a playoff game…
Noone can accuse the Oilers of sitting back defending the lead….
Great scoring chance for Keith. That was close.
Podkolzin coming in with blazing speed!!!
lol
(Edit: Singh, not Podkolzin himself)
I have not enjoyed Singh at all this year.
Calling Koskinen Demko is the cherry on top.
He’s had some real clunker lines.tonight. Even more than usual.
Even better was when he called Koskinen Demko.
Even Singh hates Koskinen! 😛
Not Connor’s finest defensive zone effort.
Whoa, two defensive zone giveaways by McDavid in 7 seconds – never seen that before.
Koski out challenging again. He’s looked better
He’s been excellent all year.
My goodness, he only allowed 4 goals on 33 shots the other night when he shit the bed (and I do agree it was not a good performance).
Tripping is against the rules unless it’s on McDavid. Then its fair play.
Could of been 3 penalties called on that sequence.
A friend of mine (who isn’t an Oiler fan — he’s a lifelong Blues fan) remarked a few years ago that McDavid is only allowed to draw a penalty once per every twenty potential penalties, based on what he saw of Oiler games.