EDMONTON — There is a unique sound to the reaction here in Edmonton when Milan Lucic scores. Just a little extra enthusiasm, somehow, and a chorus of “Loooooch!” from an audience that might despise his contract, but always wanted to be able to cheer for the man who signed it.
Lucic is that old school, physical player that a fan base wanted to love. And to be honest, he’s still that guy. Now, if he could only resurrect himself, and give the people a few more two-goal nights like the one he enjoyed Monday in a 7-2 romp over the Buffalo Sabres.
“I have full confidence in myself,” Lucic said after the game. “I can get it back. I WILL get it back. That’s the mindset you have to have. It’s me believing in myself first that will get me there.”
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On a night when the big Serb scores a pair — after having notched just two goals in the calendar year 2018 — the cheers go up at Rogers Place as a fan base forgets, for a night at least, the incredibly awful free agent deal GM Peter Chiarelli threw at a player who left his best years behind, it seems, in Boston.
“I wish I could have done it more, to date. But I’m looking forward,” said Lucic, who suddenly has three goals in his past four games. It gives rise to the “Looch!” chant heard often when he scored 23 here two seasons ago.
“I even heard it in the Calgary game (on Dec. 9). We were up 1-0 and we had a powerplay late in the game. They saw I had a chance to score, and they were ‘Looch-ing’ before I even had the puck on my stick,” he said. “They had my back, wanting me to get rewarded for the effort that they see that I’ve been putting it in. It goes for Kass as well. They enjoy the way that we play, and they like to let us know.”
In a rare show of support scoring, Zack Kassian added a pair as well. But it is the rejuvenation of Lucic that would be the difference here in Edmonton, where the Oilers are so desperate for scoring from their wingers, having dealt away Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle.
“For me,” began head coach Ken Hitchcock, “this is five games in a row where Looch has been like this. He looks like the player for me who was around two or three years ago.”
Lucic rifled home a pair of wrist shots from mid-range, the type of goals he scored regularly in his days as a 25-goal scorer. Which begs the question:
Can it ever return? Can a guy whose struggles have run this deep at age 30, whose decline has been this abject, reclaim what he once was?
“For sure I can,” he said. “The year I played in L.A. Dustin Brown was struggling. Last year he put up a career-high in points (61), and what did he have? Twenty-eight goals?
“Even Kopy (Anze Kopitar). Two seasons ago he had 12 goals, and then last year he was up for MVP.”
On this night, folks in Edmonton will settle for a win that was not delivered by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, though both added a goal. Edmonton opened up a 3-1 lead on two Kassian goals sandwiched around a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins deflection. From there they simply outscored a shoddy Buffalo team that couldn’t find a save from either goaltender, and used them both.
This Oilers franchise has proven that you can have an Art Ross Trophy winner and miss the playoffs. It’s a simple fact in hockey: You need production from throughout your lineup, or you don’t go anywhere.
“You know,” said former Washington Capitals winger Alex Chiasson, “I was on a championship team last year. Our best players were our best players, but our depth guys won us everything. It’s a big part of winning.”
It has to last here in Edmonton, if the Oilers have any chance of nabbing a playoff spot. And if the fans could stop talking about Lucic’s contract, and start talking about Lucic’s production?
Well, that would be a pleasant diversion.
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