Wednesday, May 24, 2006

The craziest 3rd period ever?

Last night, the Oilers won a game they should've probably lost. Talks about a part of the teambeing struck by the flu are making rounds in the Edmonton press. Well, they sure looked like a team that didn't have their legs last night...

The Ducks really took it to the Oilers in the first period. They dominated in the shots department, and they dominated physically. But Roloson was steady, as he's been throughout the playoffs, and he even pulled a couple of spectacular saves on one-timers. And, at the end of a brutal first period (something like 40 minutes of penalties combined for the two teams, as well as 2 fights), Edmonton led 1-0, on a goal by a guy I didn't even know was on the roster, Toby Peterson.

The second period, unlike the first, was uneventful. There were a couple of chances on both sides, but nothing too dangerous. What was amzing was that, even though they looked slow and couldn't really keep up with the Ducks, the Oilers kept fighting like mad for loose pucks and throwing themselves in front of almost every shot. I think Neil Smith, the analyst for OLN and ex-Rangers GM, summed up really well this playoff run of the Oilers when he said: "The Oilers look like they'd rather die than lose". Good stuff...

The 3rd period was absolutely crazy! Still leading 1-0, the Oilers started to apply a bit more forecheck. The result was Mike Peca pressuring the point, getting the puck and flying all alone on Bryzgalov. And in the same way he did against the Sharks in Game 6, he roofed it in the top-right corner. Beautiful goal. Not even a minute later, the Oilers came in 2-on-2, but Samsonov waited till the last second and made a beautiful drop pass to Staios will cutting across the slot. Bryzgalov followed Samsonov and Staios shot it into an open net. And then, another minute later, after the Ducks had taken 2 bad penalties, Pronger made a wicked slapshot to score on a 2-man power play. At that point, it was 4-0 and I was dancing in my appartment!

But I never saw it coming. 'It' being the Ducks comeback. After the Oilers scored 3 goals in 2:21 min., the Ducks responded with 3 goals of their own in 4 minutes. Just like that, they had a bunch of momentum and were back only 1 goal behind. Worst, for the first time in the series, Roloson looked vulnerable. In the end, the teams exchanged 2 more goals, and it stayed really close until the very end, when Roloson made a toe save on Justin Penner when Penner had a wide open cage.

When I went to bed last night, I was so happy to be 26 years old, and not 50 or 60. Because had I been that old, I would've surely suffered a heart attack. I don't know that this was the crazy 3rd period of all time, or even of the year, but it was really filled with excitement and drama. To all those who missed it, well... 'I pity the fool!'

L8er

The Dwarf

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