Oilers/Canucks Day Late Recap!

Apologies for the lateness, but I've managed to destroy my home computer and I had no internet access yesterday. Bleh.

Getting out to see your team live is amazing. Especially in enemy territory. The beauty of seeing the Oilers play at GM Place is the comraderie you feel with anyone in an Oilers jersey. Fun times.

- Horcoff looked good. Occassionally made some odd decisions with the puck in the offensive zone, but he was one of the few guys, especially in the first, who seemed to have their legs under them.

- Smid looked like a rookie with a lot of potential. He always wants to make a play, and he's generally pretty calm. That occassionally gets him in trouble, but it also makes me think he's going to be a hell of a player someday soon. Not today though. The kid gets a lot of minutes, and does okay with him, but occassionally you can tell that he's just not quite there yet.

- I thought Bergeron played well, with the exception of one poorly chosen time to wind up for a big slap shot.

- JFJ looked alright. Got out there, got in on the forecheck a bit. It looked like the game plan for those guys was more to not screw up than to try and generate any real offense. Poor guy got clobbered in his fight though.

- Pouliot looked somewhat discombobulated all night. Seemed maybe that he was nervous and couldn't really get in a rhythym with the way his line was used. It's unfortunate, but I'd rather watch the team win than watch MAP get into a groove, so he'll just have to get comfortable with irregular playtime.

- At one point, Stoll took a faceoff just outside the Oilers' blueline. The draw was kinda scrambled and he threw it back with his hand. There's a whistle, and the guy behind me starts screaming "You got one right Magoo! You got that one right!"

Overall, the Oilers weren't as bad as the shot clock would suggest. Roloson didn't have to make any spectacular saves. The best Canucks chances were spoiled by their own lack of finish. Most of their shots seemed to come from well outside and hit Roli right in the chest. Still, the Oilers will have to be better tonight to beat a team with as much firepower as the Canes.