Oilers Break Losing Streak, Beat Senators

The Edmonton Oilers finally got a win in their October 19 game against the Ottawa Senators. Itβs only their second win of the season, the first being a shootout win against the New Jersey Devils back on October 7.
Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk, who played some phenomenal games last season, is starting to get back into the swing of things and made 35 saves against the Senators. Dubnyk commented on the season thus far, and addressed some of the criticism he was facing for his performance in earlier games, saying that βI obviously havenβt given them the best effort. Itβs easy to try and go out there and be someone else. Everybody starts talking about how you canβt do it and they need somebody else, and itβs really easy to start doubting yourself. But the last couple games Iβve just tried to go out there and be myself. I know I can do the job.β
Teammate Jordan Eberle thought the win against the Senators was crucial for Dubnyk. βHeβs kind of been the brunt of the criticism,β Eberle interviewed, βhe played outstanding the last two games and to reward him with the win tonight is key.β
The Oilers started out strong, getting two first period goals to establish an early lead. The first of their goals was actually on their first shot of the game, helping them get some momentum from the very outset. Nail Yakupov and Jordan Eberle hurtled down the ice and, with the help of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle managed to manoeuver it past Ottawaβs Robin Lehner. They took the lead a mere 2:15 into the game.

(Photo by Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)
Less than 10 minutes later, Nugent-Hopkins scored at 10:29, increasing the Oilersβ lead.
Ottawa tried to fight back, and with about 5 minutes left in the game, they snuck one past Dubnyk, who had been performing flawlessly up to that point.
Nugent-Hopkins got Edmonton one last goal on an empty net with 34 seconds left.
The one worrying factor in the game was Taylor Hallβs exit. A knee injury in the second period took him off the ice, and he didnβt return to the game. Oilers coach Dallas Eakins interviewed that βI donβt know the severity of the injury but when a player has to leave the game itβs normally more than a day or two.β
Now, hereβs the thing. Not only is it great that they broke that losing streak β itβs never encouraging to start a season out with a series of losses. More generally, I think theyβre starting to look good (and itβs not because Iβm seeing them through optimistic blue and orange fan glasses). Itβs easy to forget free trade frenzy with the excitement of a new season, but it canβt be ignored that the Oilers got a lot of new players. Theyβre players who filled in important gaps and who I thought were all strong choices, but theyβre new to the team nonetheless. Training is training, and it takes some time on the ice in actual game situations for them to really get a feel for each other. And I think theyβre finally starting to.
Theyβll play the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, October 22.
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