Thursday, February 5, 2009

Beers and Jeers #28 (Feb 5/09 vs. St. Louis Blues)


Before the game starts I hear Penner is back on the 1st line. My 1st thought, "Why?". He was brilliantly average last game. He drives MacT/fans crazy yet when ever MacT panics he reverts to the 27/10/83 line. But whatever makes MacT happy I guess. I don't get to choose.


I was hoping that the game was going to be a gooder. I think that the fans really need a pick me up. We need something. Anything.


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1st Period


The game started with a good pace. St. Louis looked ready to play tonight. This looks like it going to be a tough/skating type of a game. The first 10:00 minutes of play were solid back and forth chances. With St. Louis gaining the edge. We killed a penalty, they killed a penalty. Then at the 13:00 minute mark Cam Janssen and Zack Stortini decided to drop the gloves. This was actually a really good fight. Storts was giving Janssen some nice rights. And some really nice jersey hold chin rabbit type of punches. No hugging. After the bombardment of shots the fighters went of to the box. Their knuckles looked broken, beat and scarred. (yeah... Metallica reference) A little while later St. Louis started crashing into Roli. By the 4th time that was it. Everyone snapped. Including Roli. Thank you St. Louis. You made him mad. We win. Haha. The period finished up and for the first time in a long time, I felt good about the period that this team just played. A full 20 minutes. End of 1st period: 0-0 tie.


2nd Period


The first 10 minutes in the 2nd were exciting back and forth hockey much like the 1st. Then at the around the 1/2 way mark, Nilsson gives it away and luckily enough the Blues don't score. Scary moment. But Roli is playing solid in the 2nd as well. He really is surprising me on how awesome he can be. Where was this last year? Not really sure why MacT decided to put Nilsson back on the 2nd line. I really thought that he was staying on the 1st line. Maybe Horcoff is the stinky one on this line? :) So with 3 minutes to go, Souray takes a nice drop pass from Nilsson and snaps it in the net. Oilers lead 1-0. Sweet. I always like to be the team that scores 1st. Always. Great period by the Oilers. Nothing like going to the 3rd with a lead. End of 2nd period: 1-0 Oilers


3rd Period


Ok, so the 3rd is getting under way and they announce that Horcoff and Gilbert are injured and will not return. (Shades of 2 years yonder...) Oh boy. Prepare for a rough 20 minutes. MacT moves Brodziak up to take Horcoffs place. The saddest part is... He looked no different than Horcoff. They play very similar and yet he's cheaper. It was weird watching him there. Although in a strange way, Penner looked more comfortable with 51, rather than 10. The MacBlender did come out a little. More out of nessesity than anything. The Oilers seem to really band together and finish the "job" as a team. Then the Blues score to make it interesting. It was 5:29 and they made it a 1-1 game. Damn! Gut check time. The tempo seemed to pick up a little after that goal. (BTW, it was a nice goal by McClemment) But both goalies continued their hotness all through the game, right up to the end of the period. The 3rd period ends in a tie. 1-1


Overtime


Overtime was also exciting. Lots of action but no real good shots by the Oilers. Well one. Souray nails the post with a hard shot. But that's it. I had that feeling that it was a shoot out night.


Shoot Out


Nilsson - Goes wide to the right and cuts in front and shoots it top left corner. Nice shot.


Gagner - Comes in fast and starts his magic hands. I think Mason thought he was going to do his full move but he didn't. He stopped at the second juke and finished with the backhand deke. Scores. Oilers win an over time shootout. Yeah!


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Tonight's Starting Lines


Penner Horcoff Hemsky - I thought that this line was going to do better than it did. Hemsky wasn't that great tonight. (I believe in Karma and superstitions and all that jazz, and I believe that MacT shouldn't make claims that are a little wacky. It may haunt a person. I mean look at him since this was printed. Hemsky hasn't been very good.) All in all, this wasn't the best line nor the worst.


Nilsson Gagner Cole - I thought this line was good at points and below average at points. Mostly good though. This was the line that really didn't change much. Gagner was playing better this game. Cole was a shooting and a hitting machine tonight. He played well.


Moreau Cogliano Reddox - A strange line choice. I may have put Penner here instead of Reddox. This was a not bad line, but not real great either. No real mistakes for these guys.


Potulny Brodziak Stortini - Hard to grade a line that isn't really a line. Storts did his job. Brodziak was moved around elsewhere. Potulny was sat for some reason? (Reddox probably scraped MacT's driveway before the trip. He now gets his reward. Ice time.) **probably not true. But you never know? Right?**


All the lines pulled their weight tonight. We pulled out an old fashioned team win. No hero's. Just some hard work and a little effort.


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BEERS


Dwayne Roloson

- This man is turning into one of my favorite drinking partners. He played a solid game. Made big saves when needed. Got physical when needed. Became a game breaker when needed. Let's drink a Molson Canadian Roli. Cheers!


Sheldon Souray

- When Visnovsky went down we as fans thought oh crap. But lucky for the Oilers we still have the other "big" guy. Mr. Boom. He scored a real nice one tonight. He played hardcore all over the ice. He was a leader for the team. He can have a big beer. Cheers!


Denis Grebeshkov

- I think that this maybe a first for Grebs. Finally on the beer list. Well I thought that he was really good. He looked really comfortable out there with Souray on the PP. He was a good defenseman, for the entire game. Amazing. So have a beer on me. Cheers!


Honorable Mention

Ladislav Smid (he played really good too. He didn't make to many mistakes.), Robert Nilsson (I thought that he was good except for that brutal giveaway. Scores the winning shoot out goal), Erik Cole (he may not get ponts but he shoots a lot and he hits a lot. I really hope he resigns with the Oilers before the trade deadline)


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JEERS


Ales Hemsky

- My wife wants me to boo you. It's hard to disagree. He hasn't been the same since MacT compared him to #99. Well horcoff has been a stink pot for awhile so it's hard to blame just Hemmer. But you know you are not really the "man" in a game when MacT chooses Reddox over Hemsky in a shoot out. Sorry dude. From the Burnt household. Booooooo!


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Not much else to say here. Good game by the Oilers. We were due. Next up... Detroit Red Wings, Saturday @ 1:00 in the afternoon. See ya then.

2 comments:

  1. Gagner and Nilsson won it in the shootout but did you see that chance he had to drive the net and decided instead to slow down the rush and pass of to Cole? That definitely deserves a jeer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I actually do not know why I didn't mention it. I was going wild when I seen him cut to the boards and not the goalie. He had a little space and time to make a move to the net and he didn't. Your right raventalon. I booed that play at home watching it and I will boo it again now. Boooooooooooooo!

    ReplyDelete

Keep it nice, keep it civil. GOILERS!


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