Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Both Sides On The Battle Of Alberta

03/08/2022 at 2:57am EST

Game highlights are below.

from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

With the trade deadline fast approaching, the Eastern Conference scout arrived at the Saddledome Monday with explicit instructions.

“I’m trying to figure if Edmonton is a buyer or a seller.”

Aren’t we all, pal. Aren’t we all.

On a night where the Oilers hung around the periphery of a 3-1 loss in Calgary, Edmonton lost another two points to the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific and now stand firmly outside the playoff race out West.

They’ve got injuries, they’ve got good players playing poorly — Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl were both horrendous on Monday — and their power play is ranked 23rd in the NHL since Dec. 5. And now they’ve got questions about how they’re going to make up ground in the West, with a bunch of players playing above their pay grade due to injuries keeping Tyson Barrie, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi, Evan Bouchard and Zack Kassian out of the lineup.

“You can't expect Brad Malone to come in here and score three goals tonight, right?” said Leon Draisaitl, shouldering the blame on a night when even one power-play goal in four fruitless opportunities could have meant a point in the standings.

continued

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

With Darryl Sutter juggling his bottom three lines Monday, no one was quite sure what to call the unit Tyler Toffoli was on.

Placed alongside second-line mainstay Andrew Mangiapane and fourth line centre Adam Ruzicka, fans wondered whether if it meant Toffoli could still be deemed a third liner.

By night’s end, there was only one thing to call him.

“He’s a goal scorer,” said coach Darryl Sutter, after the versatile winger scored twice in a 3-1 win over Edmonton.

“Look at both teams, who is the natural goal scorer? There is one guy on both teams who is a natural goal scorer.

“He only needs one chance.

“He had two chances and scored two goals and he was pissed off because he had that shorthanded breakaway he tried to come back on.

“Those guys are special players. You can’t teach guys to score.”

continued

Game highlights

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments

Comment by SYF in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry Open Post- Two Stanley Cup Playoff Games Tonight - 4 minutes ago
Comment by Paul in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry Open Post- Two Stanley Cup Playoff Games Tonight - 9 minutes ago
Comment by SYF in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry Open Post- Two Stanley Cup Playoff Games Tonight - 11 minutes ago
Comment by Paul in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry Open Post- Two Stanley Cup Playoff Games Tonight - 11 minutes ago
Comment by SYF in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry Open Post- Two Stanley Cup Playoff Games Tonight - 13 minutes ago