Taylor Hall playing some great hockey

Taylor Hall has been playing like a man possessed lately.

He scored in Dallas, as he scored in St. Louis, as he scored in Buffalo, as he scored in Chicago.
He also beat Niklas Backstrom in St. Paul, Minn., before he took Nate Prosser’s stick smack in the mouth and looked like he’d been stung by a bee, his lip swelled so badly. He got clubbed over the back of the head in St. Louis by Roman Polak’s lumber and was back about two shifts later with 10 stitches on his ear-lobe, a hazard of the business.

He didn’t score in Long Island, N.Y., or Vancouver, but he hit three posts against the Islanders and was a going concern against the Canucks. He had 31 shots during the seven games, including six against the Stars on Saturday, with another four shots that were blocked or went wide.

Hall has scored 29 points in 32 games. If he hadn’t missed seven games after hurting his shoulder in late November at Denver, where he mistakenly tried to take on old junior foe Ryan Wilson and took a crushing shot along the boards, he could have close to 40 points.

“He was on a mission this trip ... showing the passion you need in order to win in this league,” said Oilers coach Tom Renney, who played Hall for 24 minutes and 18 seconds in Vancouver; 20:16 at New York in a juicy battle with John Tavares, another first overall draft pick; 21:37 in Buffalo; and 22:33 against Dallas.

He played a whopping 20:17 even-strength against the Stars. With more penalties, maybe he’d have been out there 25 minutes. Part of that is Jordan Eberle, his Edmonton roomie, hurting his knee after just 1:53 and Renney looking down his bench and constantly spotting Hall.

“Taylor wanted the puck all the time. He wanted the responsibility of his team’s performance, never mind his own. That’s where champions start,” said Renney.


Another 4-1 loss took place on Saturday Afternoon in Dallas. Hall kept his point streak going, but it's coincided with an Edmonton losing streak. The Oilers lost Jordan Eberle for the foreseeable future; joining him with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the injured list.

Oilers get back into the swing of things mid-week. I'll be back to write about it.