WHITNEY...STILL IN THE RUNNING (UPDATED)

1 DOWN 5 TO GO...


So Ryan Whitney scores a goal and thinks that he has broken that goose egg that's been plaguing him all year. He had 24 assists and no goals going into the game last night. He wired a shot from the point through traffic (Dustin Penner) and it finds the back of the net. Everyone including the stadium announcer thinks Whitney had scored. Well...during the post-game show on Sportsnet, it's announced that the goal is officially credited to Dustin Penner via a tip in front.


Personally, I was kinda sad that Whitney had scored as I want to see him break the record that has been held since the 1947-1948 season. But now that "officially" Whitney tallied an assist, he's got 4 more to tie, and 1 to break the record.


***UPDATE***


The NHL has now officially ruled that Whitney did score the goal. The record still stands at 29 assists to start a season without a goal. Maybe next year Whitney, maybe next year...


Playing with the big boys...


For being one of the biggest teams in size of player in the league, Edmonton matched up well against the Sharks last night. The first line of Gagner, Eberle, & Hall absolutely dominated in the offensive zone! These kids have an uncanny knack to find each other with great passes. Unfortunately for them, Nittymaki played a good game and kept them off the score sheet. But, it could've been a 2-0 edmonton game in the first period. For once, the Oilers were not out-shot in a period (until the second).


The size of the Sharks did not seem to bother the top two lines very much. There was a big hit on Eberle from Dan Boyle at the end of the first period...



Eberle got up and shook it off and was no worse for wear. 


The Rest...


-Both Nittymaki & Khabibulin played well. There was a lot more difficult saves for Khabby but, he kept the Oil in the game and gave them a chance to win.


-Logan Couture scored his 18th goal last night and is now 10 goals ahead of Eberle for the Calder, but only 3 points ahead in the race.


- It looked like Omark was benched a little bi in the third, which confused me, as he was dangerous all night, and was no more effective than the other big 3 rookies on the team.


- Where is J.F. Jaques?? He was not effective in this game at all. I read something yesterday where the writer had called hi "one of those stick optional players" and he was right.


GO Oilers GO!