What A Shot Matt Savoie! 1-0 Oilers! \ud83d\udc4f <\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfa5 – @Sportsnet<\/a> <\/p>\n Also, one thing that didn\u2019t get much attention was the amazing play from the St. Albert native to set the entire sequence in motion \u2014 Savoie won a board battle with a stick lift, freed the puck, and kicked it to Walman to start the play, just 13 seconds before he scored, as shown below.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of NHL.com<\/p>\n The photo above is just a small example of the subtle, but key plays the 22-year-old makes night in and night out that don\u2019t always draw a lot of attention.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, it\u2019s a revelation for the Oilers to finally have a young player, on an entry-level contract, come in and not only find a fit on the first line with McDavid, but also make an impact. It reminds me of what Sidney Crosby had in rookie Jake Guentzel in 2016\u201317 \u2014 a comparison Jason Gregor<\/a> has made \u2014 who put up 33 points in 40 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and carried that strong play into the playoffs with 21 points in 25 games. Fingers crossed that Savoie follows a similar path.Ty Emberson\u2019s high school hockey coach praises blueliner\u2019s play on Nation VacationOilers\u2019 defenceman Ty Emberson<\/a> is having a solid season all around, but since returning to the lineup after missing five games with an injury, he\u2019s looked even sharper.<\/p>\n Over the last three Oilers\u2019 wins, he\u2019s averaged 13:25 minutes, has a 1\u20130 goal share at five-on-five, thrown four hits, and blocked a few shots. His reads have also been spot on, and he\u2019s also threaded several crisp 50-foot tape-to-tape passes onto his forward\u2019s tape.<\/p>\n On that note, for one of those three games, we travelled to Vegas to watch the Oilers take on the Golden Knights for the Nation Vacation, and it was a tremendous time with an amazing crew.<\/p>\n But what I love about the Nation Vacation<\/a> trips, along with many other things, is all the fun and random people you\u2019ll meet.While watching the Oilers from the Party Deck at T-Mobile Arena, host of \u2018Oilersnation After Dark,<\/a>\u2019 Aaron Bordato, and I struck up a conversation with the person beside us, who happened to be Emberson\u2019s high school hockey coach from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.His former coach mentioned that the blueliner was always a hardworking, very tough defender with a good head on his shoulders and he also noted that he had come across one of the earlier pieces I wrote about Emberson<\/a> when he first came to Edmonton, as he follows his career.<\/p>\n But above all, he said he was incredibly proud of Emberson\u2019s achievements and making the NHL \u2014 so much so that he brought his family to Vegas to watch him play.<\/p>\n Aaron Bordato celebrating with Ty Emberson\u2019s high school hockey coach after the Oilers\u2019 4\u20133 win over the Golden Knights. Photo credit: Woz<\/p>\n Emberson\u2019s high school hockey coach celebrated with all of us after the big Oilers overtime win in Vegas<\/a>, and overall, it was a fun conversation with someone who had an early impact on Emberson\u2019s hockey development. Also, hearing what he had once envisioned \u2014 a player in Emberson during high school with the potential to play in the NHL \u2014 actually happen, and watching him experience it live and celebrate it, was very cool to see and be a part of.There isn\u2019t a scrum that Josh Samanski won\u2019t jump intoJosh Samanski has been playing solid as of late, scoring his first NHL goal in style four games ago<\/a> \u2014 an end-to-end beauty against the Tampa Bay Lightning (kidding, but that\u2019s what he\u2019ll tell his future grandchildren, at least) and, according to Natural Stat Trick, over the last three games, his 8.91 blocks per 60 minutes lead the entire team.<\/p>\n Lately, one thing I\u2019m really starting to admire about the 6-foot-2, nearly 200-pounder is that whenever a scrum breaks out, the rookie is always among the first to jump in and help out his pals, which has happened at least a few times over the last several games.<\/p>\n I think back to the game against the Dallas Stars on March 12<\/a>, when Samanski tripped Justin Hryckowian into the boards and a big scrum ensued, and maybe something clicked for him and he thought, \u201chey, this is fun,\u201d because whenever a scrum has happened since then and he\u2019s been on the ice, he\u2019s jumped right in the mix, which is something you like to see from a youngster with only 17 NHL games under his belt.<\/p>\n Josh Samanski trips Justin Hryckowian to send him into the boards, and Colin Blackwell jumps into the fray. Frederic grabs Hryckowian after the play. <\/p>\n Four minors dealt out. Even manpower.<\/p>\n Despite the scrums, the Erding, Germany, native hasn\u2019t gotten into an NHL fight yet. That said, with the way he\u2019s been jumping into the fire, dropping the mitts for the first time over the next two home games would be fitting \u2014 especially with close to 30 of his countrymen from Germany in town, as OilersNation Germany is in Oil Country to watch the next two Oilers\u2019 home games.<\/p>\n The Roslovic \u2013 Nugent-Hopkins \u2013 Hyman line is turning up the heatWith Leon Draisaitl<\/a> out of the lineup, the Oilers need a strong second line if they\u2019re going to have a chance to come out on top of the Pacific Division pillow fight.I\u2019ve questioned Knoblauch\u2019s line combinations at forward<\/a> recently, but you have to give credit where it\u2019s due \u2014 he found a mix of Roslovic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman that has been red-hot, and credit is also due to the head coach for putting the blender away and mostly sticking with these three players on the second line for close to three games now.<\/p>\n Jack Roslovic gets his 20th goal of the season! Which makes it 2-0 Oilers! <\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5 – @Sportsnet<\/a> <\/p>\n Over the last three wins, the line has combined for four goals, with Roslovic scoring three \u2014including a nice rush sequence last game where Hyman scooped up the puck and found Roslovic, who went five-hole to score his 20th of the season.<\/p>\n While the Oilers\u2019 power play hasn\u2019t clicked (more on that next), the Roslovic\u2013Nugent-Hopkins\u2013Hyman combination has been a big reason the Oilers have banked six of the last six points.<\/p>\n Oilers\u2019 power play continues to struggle \u2014 time for a Savoie-for-Roslovic PP swap?<\/p>\n The biggest area the Oilers are struggling with without Draisaitl in the lineup is definitely the power play, having scored only two goals on their last 24 attempts.<\/p>\n That said, they\u2019ve looked better than in their earlier PP attempts without Draisaitl \u2014 they\u2019re not as passive and are moving the puck much better \u2014 but as Baggedmilk recently put it<\/a>, \u201cEither way, teams are clearly looking for Bouchard to be the shooter with Draisaitl on the shelf, and we\u2019re going to need some kind of adjustments for the last eight games.\u201d<\/p>\n The Oilers\u2019 power play starts with a couple of quick passes, then looks for the \u201cBouch bomb,\u201d but so does the opposition, which has been doing an excellent job of clogging the lane. That said, they\u2019ve primarily used Savoie as a replacement for Draisaitl, and as hot as he has been lately, I would swap him out for Roslovic instead.<\/p>\n A GOAL FROM THE OILERS’ SECOND POWER PLAY UNIT!<\/p>\n Jack Roslovic extends Edmonton’s lead to 2-0.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcf9: @SportsOnPrimeCA<\/a> <\/p>\n Why? For one, Roslovic is on one of his hot streaks<\/a>, scoring three goals in his last three games. Also, the Oilers need more shooting options that can score from distance beyond Bouchard, and whatever goes into the mechanics of Roslovic\u2019s shot, it seems to come off the stick with a bit more \u2018pop\u2019 than most, enough to fool netminders. Moreover, last game against the Ducks, we saw that when Roslovic was on the second PP unit, he had the puck in a not-so-dangerous spot, elected to fire, but ripped it off the post.That said, as you may know, I like silver linings if there\u2019s one to be had<\/a>. For the Oilers \u2014 who many deemed a one-trick pony relying solely on their power play \u2014 they\u2019ve been winning games even without their usual lethal man advantage, thanks to strong five-on-five play, their PK unit coming up clutch, and their goaltenders making some big saves.<\/p>\n Still, if the Oilers can fine-tune their power play, look out.<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774925617_586_image.webp\"\/)
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There\u2019s a new chapter beginning at