Schultz Is Exactly What The Oilers Needed

When the Edmonton Oilers decided to move Tom Gilbert to the Minnesota Wild for defenceman Nick Schultz at this year's Trade Deadline, many fans were not overly thrilled with the deal. Some felt that the former Oiler blueliner was worth far more then a veteran stay at home defenceman, that while solid in his own end, appeared to bring little else to the table. Well, after nineteen games into his Edmonton Oilers career, it seems pretty clear that the ten year NHL vet, has far more to offer then many felt he did back on February 27th.

Game 81: Anaheim 2 Edmonton 1 (OT)

It seemed almost fitting that the Edmonton Oilers home schedule ended in the fashion it did. An absolute brutal decision by Sam Gagner to take an ill advised shot attempt on goal was then compounded by an equally horrendous pinch from defenceman Ryan Whitney, that led directly to Ryan Getzlaf's overtime winner, leading the Anaheim Ducks to a 2-1 victory at Rexall Place. Like much of their season, it was the little things that seemed to make the biggest difference for the Oilers on this night. Making good hockey decisions is something this group continues to struggle badly with and until they can eliminate those lapses from their game, Edmonton will continue to lack the consistency this franchise so desperately needs.

What Was The Purpose Of Calling Up Linus Omark?

With the Edmonton Oilers season heading into its final week, it appears as though Linus Omark is in his final days as an Oiler. While Omark ultimately does not appear to fit into Edmonton's future plans, the way in which this organization handled the talented Swede, has been rather perplexing. One could easily make the argument that Linus doesn't really "fit" when the club is healthy. Having said that, when a player like Taylor Hall is out of the lineup and with the team struggling to generate much offensively, it seems rather peculiar that the diminutive winger continues to be a healthy scratch. Which begs the question, what was the point of recalling him in the first place?

Game 80: Los Angeles 2 Edmonton 0

When you first glance at last night's game summary, one might come to the conclusion that the Edmonton Oilers simply did not show up in their 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. While it wasn't their best performance of the year, it was about all that could be expected from the current roster. While the Kings are in playoff mode, many of the Oilers are shifting towards off season mode. With the likes of Colten Teubert and Bryan Rodney on Edmonton's backend, it should come as no real surprise that Devan Dubnyk was the sole reason this one was even close..

Game 79: Edmonton 2 Anaheim 1

After back-to-back dreadful performances on home ice, the Edmonton Oilers got back to their winning ways on the road. On the strength of Devan Dubnyk's thirty-two save performance and the first two goals of the season from youngster Teemu Hartikainen, the Oilers waltzed into Anaheim and beat the Ducks by a score of 2-1. In turn, crashing the party of what might just be the last home game in the career of Anaheim Ducks legend Teemu Selanne.