Edmonton Oilers Gameday Reviews: Ceci and Draisaitl Combine to Rescue Oilers From Defeat my

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

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Cult of Hockey

Edmonton Oilers dig deep for a big 5-3 road win in Boston: Cult of Hockey Player Grades

EVAN BOUCHARD . 8. Terrific performance by the top pairing… 4 shots. 3 Hits. Played an impressive 24:26.
LEON DRAISAITL . 9. Tied the game at 3 by firing a terrible Bruins turnover into the top corner from right in the slot. Then, gained a strong position in front and then shovelled him a lovely Cody Ceci feed to push the Oilers ahead 4-3… 3 shots. Played 22:32.
CODY CECI . 8. His best game as an Oiler… Named the game’s 3 ^rd Star. HDSC F/A with him on the ice? 5-1! Terrific performance.
DEREK RYAN . 4… A tough night in the circle (25%). -1.
KYLE TURRIS. 4. Unlucky to have the puck deflect off the back of his skate on the 1-0. 0 shot. 1 give-away.
BRENDAN PERLINI . 4. A liked how physical Perlini was (4 hits), which you like to see from the big man. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to accomplish much else.
RYAN McLEOD . 6. His fore check forced a turnover, leading directly to the 5-3 insurance marker and earned his 2 ^nd career NHL assist.
COLTON SCEVIOUR . 6. His battle won in front earned him an assist on the 5-3 goal.
DARNELL NURSE . 7. The Oilers top pairing was good from start to finish. Darnell Nurse led the club at 26:01. 5v5 CF 17-17, 50%.
MIKKO KOSKINEN . 6… So, while we may quibble over Koskinen’s over-all performance (and we can), the cold, hard facts are that Koskinen made a big stop to save the game. Also made 6 saves on Boston Power Plays. Credit where credit is due.

BLH’s Thoughts: Geez, not too long ago Koskinen was taking some criticism for not making those big saves and now he’s praised for making them. My my, how the tide has turned… Good for Mikko! I hope these strong performances cement his place on the Finnish national team for the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Ryan was better tonight I felt. He had some pep in his step and he was engaged consistently. Tough to get a good grade when you’re eating shit on the faceoffs though and considering that’s one of the things he was brought in to do well, he really needs to pick that aspect of his game up. Reckon he’s playing above his ability on the third line a bit?

When I watch Perlini and McLeod hit, it looks like they feel bad for making contract. Do you think they say sorry each time they body check a defenseman or a winger on the wall because that’s one thing you wouldn’t have confused with Boston’s bottom-sixers last night. Every check was a statement for the Bruins and if they weren’t first to every 50/50 puck, there were damned close. That’s what the Oilers could use a little bit more of. There’s nothing more aggravating that watching the grinders allow the other player to reach the puck first in order to avoid contact…

Where my Ceci haters at?!!!

Sportsnet

Unlikely hero Cody Ceci shines in Oilers’ come-from-behind win over Bruins

It was another night and another one-man show, as the Oilers came from behind three separate times to beat the Boston Bruins, thanks to a fabulous assist and the insurance goal from, wait for it… Cody Ceci?
Ceci could not take part in the post-game lovefest after he took a puck to the ear late in the game.
…after halting their losing streak at one game and pulling off a character win in a building that has not been kind to this franchise in recent years, it was a team win that the Oilers were most happy to talk about.

“Probably not the prettiest guy to watch, but he’s so effective and good at what he does,” said Draisaitl

Another night, another inexplicable non-call on Connor McDavid, as Derek Forbort jammed his stick between McDavid’s feet when the Oilers captain approached the net.
The fact McDavid ranks 33rd in the NHL in penalties drawn (according to Natural Stat Trick) speaks for itself.
…no matter how ridiculous it may seem that 32 NHL players have received more calls than the best, fastest and most elusive player in the game.

“Nothing you can do,” agreed Hyman. “You keep going, Go out on your next shift, and eventually they’ll get called.”

Mike Smith has left the team, as the worst fears of having a 39-year-old starter are starting to play out in Edmonton.

BLH’s Thoughts: One aspect of tonight’s game that we haven’t seen in year’s passed from the Oilers is their ability to bounce back after being scored on or going into the third period down on the scoreboard. Boston isn’t an easy team to score on and the Edmonton made it look easy. The bent but didn’t break and that, my friends, is an attribute winning teams possess.

Brandon Carlo… Man did he have a shocker of a third period for the Bruins? Man, you gotta feel bad for the guy as he basically handed the two points to the Oilers…

The refs really had themselves a poor night from a clear interference penalty on Kailer Yamamoto by Patrice Bergeron, to McDavid getting tripped behind the net, to Hyman getting picked on a play that lead to a Bruins goal… Suppose it didn’t matter though as Edmonton won the game in the end, but when’s it going to be too much? Does somebody need to go down with a season-ending injury? What?!

Why don’t the Oilers just shut Mike Smith down for the month? This is getting ridiculous. They keep trying to push him to game readiness and he’s picking up consistent setbacks… Try a different approach FFS!

Tonight is Buffalo (that roster… Yikes!) and the Bison King is in town!!! Wouldn’t it be something if Pulju had himself a game to remember? He’s due for a hat-trick about now, no?

Spector’s Hockey

DAILY FACEOFF: Frank Seravalli recently reported league sources claim the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators were the two teams that expressed the most interest in Vitali Kravtsov.

THE ATHLETIC: In her latest mailbag segment, Los Angeles Kings beat writer Lisa Dillman if there’s a player the club could target to acquire before placing Drew Doughty on long-term injury reserve. She believes the Kings aren’t targeting players for trades right now because Doughty is expected to return around Christmas.