- The game couldn't have ended worse for a fan. It went from a quick Red Wings goal, to a so-so 2nd period to a 3-3 (two goal comeback) tie game with loads of excitement. But with just 2:50 seconds left in the 3rd, they blew it. Or the hockey gods blew it as it bounced in off of Smid. There goes the Oilers hard work down the drain.
- 44 seconds after the go ahead goal, Helm scored after taking advantage of a fallen Peckham and beats Khabby to make it an unreachable 5-3 with 2:06 left in the game. Hard to win after that. Oh well... next time boys! GOILERS!!!
- Both Liam Reddox and Linus Omark played well tonight. Not too bad for missing the morning skate and traveling. Glad to see them connect with Brule for a goal and they wach earned an assist.
- Omark adds another point to his total making it 6 points in 9 games this season. He keeps putting up points and yet people want him in the minors? My god, why?
- Taylor Hall led the team with 5 shots on goal. He actually took 9 shots, but only the 5 made it to the net. He tried hard all game long and did what he could to win. I like his willingness and his passion to try and win games. I hope it rubs off on the others.
- Speaking of Hall. Is there something against Taylor? No penalties were called when he was hauled down or tripped up all game long. Why not? Most of them were clear calls that were ignored? Not just this game, but several games have happened this way. Hmmm... I have my eye on you refs! *eye stare*
- The Oilers, from what I could tell, had an enormous amount of giveaways tonight. However, according to the official score sheet, they only had 10 for the entire team recorded. Am I wrong to question this?
- Theo Peckham continues to grow as an NHL player. He's learning the small things and it seems like he wants to get better. He had 4 blocked shots and he battled to the end. Too bad he slipped on the Helm goal. You could see it pissed him off. Lessson learned.
- The -2 club: Cogliano, Penner, Vandermeer and Foster.
- The +1 club: Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner
- The Oilers were 0/3 for 0% on the PP and a perfect 2/2 for 100% on the PK.
- Sam Gagner was 2nd star of the game and was somewhat well deserved. He did play awesome in the 3rd, but needs to do that all game, every game.
- The Oilers went 20/37 for 35% on faceoffs. Terrible, terrible night for the centers. But you look at who they faced in the dot and we can't be too mad. That's stiff competition. The worst on the team was Gagner going 5/13 for 28%. The best on the team (other than Reddox 1/1) is Brule. He did 4/5 for 44%. Practice! Practice!
Within the last few days, the Oilers have made a couple roster moves involving call ups and call downs. Ryan O'Marra and Shawn Belle were sent down on Sunday and Liam Reddox and Linus Omark were called up to replace them on the Oilers active roster. It's no big secret that Reddox and Omark are the big guns in the Barons offense, but just how much?
Reddox is going to be on his first stint with the Oilers this season. The Barons are 18-14-1-4 so far this season. When Omark was on the team from the start of the season and the two games this last weekend, the Barons are 15-9-1-3. In the 9 games while he was in Edmonton, the Barons were 3-5-0-1. Reddox registered 8 points(3G, 5A) in those games, but they only came in 4 of the games. With Reddox and Omark being the 2nd and 3rd Barons leading goal scorers respectively, their call up takes a huge chunk out of the Barons offense. The Barons have scored 120 goals this season, Omark and Reddox account for 32, or 26.2%, of them. And of the 313 points the Barons players have registered, Omark and Reddox account for 64, or 20.4%, of those. Then, the Barons Power Play, which has had it's struggles at certain times of the season but has come back recently. They're currently 11th in the league. Omark and Reddox have 7 of the 38 PP goals scored by the Barons, 18.4%.
It doesn't end there either. Jeff Petry was called up to the Oilers on Dec 27th. When you add Petry's stats to Reddox's and Omark's numbers, it becomes an even bigger blow to the Barons. Petry's 7 goals bring the percentage up to 32.5%, his 19 points bring that up to 27.1%, and his 2 PP goals take that up to 23.6%.
With the Oilers having a quarter of the Barons offensive production on their active roster right now, it'll be interesting to see how the lines will look and if there are any signings in the future of the Barons. The first line of Giroux-Moran-McDonald will really have to step up to cover any of the loss. Hartikainen is coming along nicely but he's had trouble scoring when Reddox and Omark aren't on the ice too. This weekend will be a huge test for them as they have 3 games in 3 nights. Peoria comes in on Friday and Saturday, and they take on Lake Erie on Sunday.
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Oilers Jambalaya is in no way, shape or form associated with the Edmonton Oilers or the Bakersfield Condors. This is a fans blog for fans. We happen to love those teams, so we write about them.
