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Two nights ago in Tampa Bay, the Edmonton Oilers got off to a hot start before taking their collective foot off the gas pedal and ultimately losing a close one in overtime. On Saturday night in Sunrise, against a familiar foe in the Florida Panthers, we saw an almost identical story play out, but a bounce back performance from Stuart Skinner and Edmonton’s offense saw the Oilers reverse their fortunes with a much-needed 6-3 win.
This win feels a little more meaningful. It’s not just because of their opponent — the same club that has beaten Edmonton in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, at this very rink. (You can call it a revenge game if you want, but no regular-season win is going to soothe those wounds.) It’s method Which they won — with a 35-save performance from Skinner, a hot start on offense and a strong closing statement — and the timing of it, too.
Saturday’s win marks Edmonton’s first regulation win since Oct. 28. It also sees them embark on a grueling 12-day, seven-game U.S. road trip on a happy note in South Florida after riding a three-game skid, getting one game back over .500 at a pretty crucial point in the season. The fourth mark of the campaign is when teams take stock of where they are, and while plenty of questions remain about the Oilers, Saturday’s measuring game might just offer some hope.
“I think our guys were really focused and did the little things that we needed to do,” head coach Chris Knobloch said postgame.
Any lasting improvement starts with Skinner, whose poor performance in the first two months of the season has once again put him at the center of Edmonton’s woes. While Skinner didn’t steal the show despite her impressive save total, she came on strong despite a midgame break in the third period during which the Panthers clawed back from a 4-1 deficit to make it a one-goal game by the end of the second.
It was the goalkeeper the other The end of the ice that struggled so much, ended nearly seven minutes into the second period after Sergei Bobrovsky gave up four goals on 17 shots on the night, started the game just 25 seconds into a bad angle and should have ended with another bad angle shot. (Panthers backup Daniel Tarasov was the best scorer on the night, allowing zero goals on 12 shots.)
Skinner’s ability to shake off a bad goal in the first frame, then quickly rebuild his confidence in the third and stand tall to put the Oilers back to victory was remarkable. Whether or not he can build on this will be a big story to watch as the Oilers return home.
“He played really well tonight, especially in the third period,” Knobloch said of Skinner. “We needed him, and he rose to the occasion.”
Roslovic’s strong November continues with a hot start
He won’t get any style points for it, but Jake Roslovic’s game-opening goal was the perfect example of why it never hurts to fire the puck to the net – you never know what might happen. And 25 seconds into the game, as Roslovic ran down the boards in Florida’s zone and took a glancing shot, he hit the right spot between Bobrovsky’s left pad and the goal post to give Edmonton an early 1-0 lead.
About seven minutes later, the forward was already on hat-trick watch after giving the Oilers a 2-1 lead with a goal that boasted both style and substance. While he didn’t get a third on the night, Roslovic’s hot start gave the Oilers a boost Saturday night. It also continued what had been a quietly great month for him. Eight of Roslovic’s nine goals on the season have been scored in November, with five coming on this road trip.
Both of Roslovic’s goals on Saturday night were assisted by Evan Bouchard, who also added to Vasiliy Podkolzin’s second-period beauty for a three-point evening. Fellow defenseman Mattias Ekholm also brought plenty of offense from the blue line with a goal and two assists of his own. He was instrumental in bringing both Connor McDavid and Matt Savoy out of the zone to capitalize twice in 27 seconds into Florida’s empty net to secure a much-needed victory.
Knobloch heaped praise on the two post-game, highlighting what he called an overall “fantastic” performance for the D-Men.
Bouchard called Saturday’s win “a good game all around.”
“They pushed, we pushed back,” he told SportsNet’s Jean Principe postgame. “We never took our foot off the gas, which was good.”
Don’t lose any love cups between final enemies
Considering the history between these back-to-back Stanley Cup Final foes, it should surprise absolutely no one that things got off to a rough start in Florida — literally. Less than nine minutes into the game, with the score tied 2-1 in Edmonton’s favor, a brawl broke out in front of Skinner’s crease after the game was shut down. The melee started with Oilers defenseman Ty Emberson delivering a healthy blow to Panthers forward Carter Warhagi, and escalated when Florida AG Greer finished off Trent Frederick’s UFC-like double-leg takedown.
While certainly entertaining, the officers made it clear that the antics were not appreciated, and broke up the fight before Frederick could make his feelings known about it. Both players were given 10 minutes of misconduct along with two minutes of unsportsmanlike conduct. And it’s worth thinking that Greer should expect a call from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for his part.
That wasn’t the last of the bad blood in Florida. The game had a fantastic tone overall, with things heating up again in the final minutes – and again, with Greer playing a central role – while the Oilers’ new enforcer also got involved. Connor Clattenburg became a fan favorite before he stepped on the ice for his NHL debut Saturday night, thanks to his 26 penalty minutes earned with the Bakersfield Condors last weekend, and his interview afterward.
The Oilers called him up for the matchup in hopes of injecting a little sandpaper into the lineup, and with limited options due to cap restrictions, he was the perfect choice. Clattenburg’s night began with a traditional solo lap and ended with a tough two-minute call for a very fitting official welcome-to-the-league moment.
