Experience Oilers hockey, making Habs fans sad, and David Tomášek’s first NHL goal
After snapping their three-game losing streak on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Edmonton Oilers returned to home ice to face the red-hot Montreal Canadiens. And after 60 minutes of the most ridiculous hockey you could ever imagine, the Oilers locked in a 6-5 victory that was anything but easy to get. There were ups, there were downs, but in the end, what we got was one of the most entertaining games I can remember.EXPERIENCE OILERS HOCKEYThat game was pure chaos from start to finish. I don’t even know how else to describe it. The Oilers went from trailing 1–0 to leading 3–1, then gave it all back just as quickly before falling behind 5–3. They went from leading to losing in the span of about eight minutes. At that point, it felt like we were watching yet another collapse unfold in real time, the kind that makes you fight the urge to grab the remote and remember all the other things you could have been doing with your night. And yet, somehow, the Oilers found a way. A Leon Draisaitl power play goal cut the deficit in half, a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins backhand tied it less than a minute later, and then Vasily Podkolzin capped off one of the most ridiculous wins we’ve seen in years. Nothing about it made sense, but I’m not complaining.
Given how the Habs were rolling early, I’ll be honest, I didn’t think Edmonton had the juice to crawl back once they blew that two-goal lead. Most teams would have folded after a meltdown like that, and honestly, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they did. But credit where it’s due, the Oilers didn’t quit. They dug in, cranked up the urgency, started shooting, and turned a disaster into a highlight reel comeback win. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t anything you’d want to replicate, but despite the stress, it was entertaining as hell. And on a night when Montreal fans packed Rogers Place, having the Oilers come back to win like that felt like a gift. I don’t ask for much this early in the season, but stealing two points while sending Habs fans home heartbroken was exactly what the doctor ordered.
SO LONG, HABS FANS
It’s hard not to be annoyed when the Montreal Canadiens roll into town, you know? Let’s just say that seeing all that red in the crowd and hearing the “ole, oles” at Rogers Place isn’t exactly my favourite. As much as I get the love for an Original Six team, and it’s the same when the Leafs are here, that doesn’t make me want all of their fans to go home sad any less. In fact, I want the Oilers to ruin a night when those fans probably overspent on tickets and/or are pretending they’re not actually Oilers fans in a Habs jersey because they grew up reading The Hockey Sweater. The problem, of course, is that the Habs are good. They’re young, skilled, and playing a brand of hockey built to punish mistakes, and as we all know, the Oilers aren’t exactly keeping it tight these days.
What I didn’t expect, however, was that my dream of the Oilers ruining Habs fans’ night would happen in such dramatic fashion. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the Oilers would build a lead they didn’t really deserve, blow that same lead in the span of 1:52, give up four straight goals, and still come roaring back for a 6–5 comeback win. That might have been one of the craziest finishes I’ve ever seen. Nothing about that game made sense, but what I can say for certain is that it fills my heart with joy knowing everyone in a Montreal jersey just had their heart ripped out in spectacular fashion. Watching the Canadiens lose like that had to be more painful than anything I could have cooked up, and for that, I thank the Hockey Gords for answering my prayers with such creativity.
DAVID TOMÁŠEK’S FIRST NHL GOALDavid Tomášek has had roughly a thousand chances to score so far this season, and it was kind of the Hockey Gords to finally reward him, even if his first NHL goal came off a friendly bounce. He didn’t even know he was the one who scored, but it was another reminder that a shooter’s mentality is a thing that actually works, and they might even like it. It wasn’t one of his many point-blank opportunities that got him on the board, just a couple of bounces that beat Sam Montembeault before he could adjust. The point? Good things happen when you shoot the puck. Call it luck or whatever you want, but I sure wish the rest of the team were as willing to fire pucks through traffic. Sometimes it works out.For a guy coming off a scoring title in the Swedish league last year, it had to feel good to finally get something on the scoresheet, even if the goal was anything but pretty. There are a few guys gripping the stick a little tightly right now, and Tomášek was definitely among them. While no one expects him to match the 24 goals he scored in 47 games last year with Färjestad BK Karlstad, the Oilers need him to chip in from time to time if he’s going to keep his spot in the lineup. So far, he’s done a solid job of creating looks for himself, but the goals haven’t followed. Maybe getting a lucky one can spark some confidence. The instincts are clearly there, and now we’ll have to wait and see how much finish he has at this level. Can a fortunate bounce be the spark he needed? We’ll see.PRESENTED BY VIVID SEATS
