Baptism by Hemsky Volume 3

The name says it all.

Oilers 4 Blue Jackets 3

Baptism by Hemsky (Version 2)

Now that's what I call a leader: Hemsky taking the hit to make the play. In this circumstance, his pass went between the two defenders and out of the zone, but how often does he miss a pass? Does it happen more than once or twice a period? Once or twice a game?

The defensive coverage was a tad slow tonight but the offensive awareness was definitely there. I don't believe all that stuff about the Glenn Anderson night giving them a boost because the Oilers have historically played pretty poorly in those ceremonial games.

Big game by Moreau with the HAT TRICK as well. Congratulations on the first career hat trick Mr. Moreau. Cole and Penner had a ton of chances, and Gilbert looked great.

Expect DesLauriers to get the start in Columbus so he can get in a game before the All-Star Break, which is 6 days long for Edmonton.

Most importantly, the Oilers are back in the playoff picture, at 8th place, and with 2 games on Vancouver. The bad news: so does Columbus and they are one point behind Edmonton. The good news: if the Oilers and Blue Jackets make the 7th and 8th western conference spots, the dreadful Canucks will take Sundin, Ohlund, and the rest of the rejects to the golf course. And that's a feeling that would be simply priceless.

Baptism by Hemsky

The answer to the age old question of "Who made God?" has been discovered. The answer is Ales Hemsky.

Robbie Schremp, HockeyJesus himself, when placed next to Hemsky, made it apparent to all whose "right hand" the Bible's been talking about all along. Ales Hemsky's.

And the Los Angeles Kings experienced a Baptism by Hemsky tonight. Great move for the shootout winner and better move for the Penner tying goal.

Just amazing.

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During the Game...

... some breakouts were sloppy as hell but great puck movement was shown by Visnovsky, Gilbert, Grebeshkov, and Ethan Moreau.

... Erik Cole and Shawn Horcoff were dangerous all night.

... something dangerous happened everytime Schremp and Staios were on the ice. The difference? Schremp makes it happen in the offensive zone and Staios makes it happen in the defensive zone.

... Garon let out a lot of juicy rebounds.

... it was apparent that Brodziak was squeezing his stick a little too hard but he still managed to do all the simple things right, like get pucks deep. One notably bad giveaway in the defensive zone - but hey, mistakes happen.

... Souray played like a monster with a lasers. Except that his lasers are his slapshots and instead of coming out of his eyes like any decent laser-wielding monster, they come off the blade of his stick. Who woulda thunkit?

... Ales Hemsky showed why he is the most valuable Oiler player in at least about a decade. Yes, I must say even more than my favorite former/current Oiler, Tommy Salo.

... the Oilers couldn't kill off L.A. PPs. Work on it.

... Strudwick looked better as a forward than he did as a defenseman. He should stay there because Smid looked good.

... Marc-Antoine Pouliot looked like a good hockey player tonight. Was at all the right places to receive passes and backchecked like a demon. Might sense some movement in the "Prospect, Player, or Trade Bait" rankings if he keeps this up. Same goes for Schremp.

... Liam Reddox looked useful playing different roles. Love this hockey player.

... Dustin Penner was dominant.

... the Oilers disappeared for the second period.

... the Oilers showed that they cannot keep the lead if their lives depended on it.

... the Oilers showed what kind of depth the organization has with 4 regulars (5 if you count Jeff Drouin-DesLauriers) out with injuries large and small.

... Andrew Cogliano beat Jarret Stoll on the faceoff. There is hope after all.

... the Oilers won puck battles. Time to translate that hard work and success to the PK.

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Gilbert Brule plays tomorrow against the NHL leading San Jose Sharks. Gulp. Brule has 8 goals and 4 assists so he's a shoot first kind of player. Could have a drastically different impact on this team than a Sam Gagner or a Jason Strudwick.

Also, can Schremp keep up his scoring pace of 1.5 pts/GP? So far, some people may say that Cogliano makes Schremp look a lot better than he is. I'd argue that Schremp has made Pouliot look a lot better than he is, though Mr. Chicken has put in some hard work in the last two games himself. I think having those 3 elements - speed, skill, and "rough and tumble" are giving this line success.

But is it sustainable?

Need proof of their imminent success? They're already Legends of Hockey, apparently.

( Gilbert Brule, Robbie Schremp )