EDMONTON — Josh Archibald was a kid growing up in Regina, sitting on the living room floor and watching as some Hockey Night in Canada host would interviews some sweaty hockey player after the game. The smile, the clichés, and that HNIC-labelled towel draped around his neck.
How often was he watching?
"Every night I could," Archibald said.
Then, suddenly, he was that guy on Saturday, the hero of an Edmonton Oilers 4-3 win over a classic Saturday night opponent, the Montreal Canadiens. And when the red light went off, and host Gene Principe thanked him for the words, the strangest thing happened.
No one reached out for the towel.
"Ya mean I get to keep this?" he asked. "I didn’t know I get to keep that!"
A guy makes a million bucks a year, and a Hockey Night towel gets him all cranked up. Go figure.
It was, in the end, a night where we caught a glimpse of how general manager Ken Holland sees Archibald — and linemate Riley Sheahan — weaving themselves into the fabric of this team, as each scored an even strength goal in a fast, exciting win over the Canadiens.
Coming into the game Archibald had two points, Sheahan three, their lack of production a metaphor for what has ailed the Oilers this season: not enough depth scoring, and a paucity of goals at even strength. Well, Archibald converted an Ethan Bear pass in the opening period, then fed Sheahan for a goal as the depth duo did their best Connor McDavid to Leon Draisaitl impersonation, a third-period goal that broke open a 3-3 tie and stood up as the winner.
"Everyone wants to do their part offensively," Archibald said. "Everyone’s got their role on the team, and ours is killing penalties and playing well defensively. Try to keep the puck out of our net. But when our scorers aren’t scoring , you’ve got to chip in every once in a while too.
"It felt really good. Shea and I have been clicking a little bit as a line. To be able to put a couple on the board felt really good."
[snippet id=4744953]
Head coach Dave Tippett predictably reunited McDavid and Draisaitl for this one, and they celebrated with a goal apiece and a beauty two-on-one just 90 seconds into the game. But some help from below is welcomed by a duo that simply is asked to carry this team on too many nights.
"That’s how you win in this league," said Draisaitl. "You need your top players to produce, but you need those guys to chip in once in a while too. Huge goals — they played well again tonight."
Edmonton has lost six of their past eight, but somehow wake up in a three-way tie with 44 points atop the Pacific, alongside Arizona and Vegas. They’ve got one more before the break, Monday in Vancouver, and play their first Battle of Alberta of the season on Jan. 27, as Calgary visits.
This was a tonic, beating a feisty Habs team that just never goes away, and getting some even strength scoring from the Bottom 6 along the way. Then something weird happened: The game was torqueing along late when the Canadiens pulled Carey Price, and suddenly Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen was loading up for a shot at the empty net.
It was totally out of character for the soft-spoken Finn, never considered to be an above average puck handler.
"That was my first clear in the NHL," he admitted. "And I didn’t try to score, to be honest. I just tried to go over the first forechecker."
[relatedlinks]
On the bench was backup goalie Mike Smith, who has scored before, and a head coach who was there when it happened.
"If he was going for the empty netter, he has bad aim," Tippett said of Koskinen, whose shot missed the net by about 12 feet, dying a shameful death as an icing call. "I was coaching Smitty when he scored like that, so I have seen the purpose of somebody grabbing it and looking at the other goal and firing it at it. I didn’t see that in Koski’s eyes."
What he did see was a netminder who found a way to win, when the Oilers dearly needed to stop the bleeding. It was a Christmas present that this club had wished for, you can be sure.
It’s no Hockey Night in Canada towel, mind you. But it will do in a pinch.
