Well it's hard to want to sit down and talk about that game. I'm sad, frustrated, shocked and a little bit in denial. I can not believe it's all over.
Roli started what maybe his last game this year and possibly as an Oiler. Thanks Roli. We do like you here in Edmonton. But MacT, please let him play the last game of the year. Don't let it end like that for him and you.
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1st Period
The 2nd line starts the game for the Oilers. The have a great 35 seconds as they are in the LA zone. But LA gets out and hems that line back in their own zone. Son of a... The Kings score a soft one on Roli at 0:55. Damn! 1-0 Kings. The crowd all at once let out a collective Awwww. A little while later Ethan Moreau drills a guy. Holy Crap! The Kings score again. 2-0 Kings. Once again it was the 2nd line that gets burned at 3:46. The crowd is stunned. I am stunned. After this this game is pretty boring. No real action, just safe hockey by both teams. At 8:51 the Oilers get their first PP. Not much really happens except for Hemsky whiffing on a pass. He looks at his stick blade like WTF? A few seconds later the camera shows him sitting on the bench pouting about it. At that moment both the wife and I said cya to Hemsky for the night. When he gets frustrated early, he disappears for the rest of the game. Probably he only real weak part of his game. Anyways, a fight breaks out. Peckham vs. Brian Boyle (6'7" 250lbs). Peckham kills him. He lands a few good left punches to the face/head. That was good. Crowd responds to it. MacT seems to have the blender on medium speed now. That means MacT is in panic mode. Not yet MacT. Jack Johnson nails Gagner from behind. Penner was right there when it happened and he took exception to it. Penner vs. Johnson. He handles Johnson ok and takes him down. Good on Penner. Will the emotion carry over to the 2nd? That was an intense last few minutes.
2nd Period
34 seconds into the 2nd, the Oilers go on their 2nd PP of the night. The PP still looks crappy. They don't score. Good first 5 minutes was all Oilers. 6 shots Oilers. Kings zero. Gagner the crazy fool skates out of his way to lay a body check on Brian Boyle. Brian Boyle! 6'7" 250lbs. Gags has a big set of nuts. How many Vets would have done that? That is why this kid is going to be a great all around player for the Oilers for years to come. A short while later, Brodziak grabs a flying puck and drops it in front of his stick. He has a wide open net and misses. Unbelievable! With 10 minutes played, the Oilers seem to be trying to get something done. Nothing is seeming to work though as it's still 2-0. Fight! Stortini vs. Ivanans. Good tilt. Storts even gets reversed jerseyed and still manages to get in some more shots to the head of Ivanans. After the fight Stortini's face looks like a half beaten bag of tomatoes. The 2nd line has been good this period. Good chances. Yeah! Oilers score. 2-1 Kings. (Pisani from Grebeshkov and Gilbert at 16:29.) Alright boys. Back in this one. Roli is taken down right in front of the ref and there is no call. The crowd is back in this game now too. Let's Go Oilers! Roli gets tripped up yet again and again, there is no call. Roli covers the puck and then freaks out. He throws the puck into the corner. Even when he's crappy, he still entertaining. Good period by the Oilers.
3rd Period
Good start by the Oilers. MacT is rolling all four lines. They are all playing good so why not? Nothing really news worthy in the first 10 minutes. Good flow but no excitement. With 9 minutes left, Gagner is nailed once again. And he just gets back up. Soon after Moreau has a great chance and almost scores. Nice passing on that play. Well there is 4:30 left and the Oilers are really turning up the heat now. The crowd is fired up and it seems to be helping the team. This game is Oilers vs. Quick. He is robbing the Oilers left and right. He's LA's Roli tonight. Oilers call a timeout at 18:21. Oilers can't mount much of an attack. With 32 seconds left, Grebeshkov has the puck taken from him as he is casually skating in front of Roli. He was lucky there as he stole it back. But the game ends. It's over. We lose.
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Tonight's Starting Lines
Kotalik Horcoff Hemsky
O'Sullivan Gagner Nilsson
Moreau Cogliano Pisani
Penner Brodziak Stortini
Souray Staios
Grebeshkov Gilbert
Strudwick Peckham
Roloson
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FINAL SCORE
Los Angeles Kings - 2
Edmonton Oilers - 1
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BEERS
Sam Gagner - This kid wanted this win more than any other Oiler. Well it appeared that way to me. He was hitting guys twice his size, he was shooting. He had a couple of takeaways. He was trying to do what ever. In fact it makes me wonder if the Oilers should be like Chicago and bank their future on a young guy like Gagner by giving him the C? For a great game other than the 2 goals against, have a frosty beer. Cheers!
Theo Peckham - He has been impressing me quite a bit. He is tougher than I imagined. He plays pretty decent hockey. In fact, he keeps up the progress and he could easily replace Staios. His fight was good. He even manged a shot and a blocked shot. Solid game Theo. Have a cold one on me. Cheers!
Ethan Moreau - The Captain played pretty good. He did not do anything stupid. He played a sound game. He led the team with 4 hits and they were good ones to. He did his job and that deserves a beer. Cheers!
The Fans - There isn't enough beer in the world to numb the pain. But we shall try. Chug!
Honorable Mentions - Fernando Pisani (He scores the Oilers only goal. Played well.), Patrick O'Sullivan (The guy shoots from anywhere. 7 shots.)
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JEERS
Ales Hemsky - WTF? Why is it that when you can't get anything going in the first 5 minutes you disappear for the rest of the game? You showed up a little near the end but it was too late. You let a lot of Oiler fans down playing like that in this game. We needed you. And you ignored us. Booooooo!
Shawn Horcoff - Ok. Your faceoffs were good. But when you are the #1 anything, you need to produce. Not just this game, but every game. You didn't and the season is over. Peoples brains are going to explode next year with that contract of yours. You think people are harsh now. lol. Wait. Boooooooooo!
89 12 19 37 77 35 - All six of these guys were on the ice for both LA goals. All six were guilty on the 2nd goal. Roli more so on the 1st goal. -2 for the 2nd line. You guys may have played well, but at those two moments you were pretty awful. Boooooooooo!
The Entire Team - Playoffs... Missed... 3 years in a row... WTF?!? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
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Now what?
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Keep it nice, keep it civil. GOILERS!