POST-GAME: Oilers physical game reignited in Detroit

DETROIT, MI - If the All-Star break had any chance at cooling off the Oilers, Tuesday's contest in Detroit certainly turned up the heat.
The Oilers and Red Wings piled on the penalty minutes in a fiery affair, with both teams combining for 32 PIMs and a few punches and face washes after nearly every other whistle. Edmonton didn't give an inch when it came to the physical play on the night, leaving Detroit with the two points and some even better vibes.
"Yeah, it was definitely aan emotional game," said Warren Foegele, who scored twice in the Oilers 5-2 win. "They're physical, we're physical, and we were definitely on our toes. We're all big smiles after that win."
"I thought there was some physicality to the game tonight and we can play that game," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said about his team's effort. "We have people that can play that game. I thought there was emotion in the game tonight and we can handle ourselves in those situations."

If there was any worry the Oilers would sleepwalk their way into the post All-Star break run, Tuesday's contest was a bucket of cold water. There may be no better way to prepare a team for a 32-game march towards the postseason than the game the Oilers found themselves in with the Red Wings.
"There was some emotion in the game as we just talked about. I think it was a good first game to get right back into the thick of things," Evander Kane said. "Games are going to get tougher as the season moves along here and tighter as teams battle for points and we need to collect as many as possible."
The Oilers are showing the can be an NHL-style chameleon -- they can adapt to whatever type of game their opponent hopes to play. Edmonton has a reputation for being able to run-and-gun with the best of them, but they have shown lately that they are not willing to be pushed around. The lineup Coach Woodcroft iced on Tuesday featured just three players listed at less than 6-foot-1.
As the season has progressed, the team has continued to elevate their compete level and demonstrated they can play a fearless style of hockey when it comes to defending their patch of ice.
"In today's NHL, there's a lot of guys that feel they can get in there and the referees bail them out a lot," Evander Kane said. "It was a bit of a chippy, slimy game at the start of the second period and we got some guys on our team that don't mind answering the bell, so we can we feel very confident and comfortable in those type of games."

When other teams have taken liberties with the Oilers, they have been able to either make them pay with skin in the game, or more importantly, on the scoreboard with their NHL-leading power play.
Under Coach Woodcroft, the Oilers have put an emphasis on taking things one game at a time, as well as learning lessons from every setback. Tuesday's contest is just another building block as Edmonton strives to prepare for and meet its end goal of a very lengthy playoff run.
"I just think just we're building our game here. We got roughly 30 games left and we just got to continue to take the right steps moving forward," Warren Foegele said. "Our goal is to eventually go all the way, and to do that, you've got to be physical. I think that was a good step for our team today being emotionally involved and getting the win."
Following the victory, the Oilers headed down to a working-class city in Philadelphia to take on a hockey team that always yearns to live up to the name of the 'Broad Street Bullies' of the 1970s. Coach Woodcroft knows his team can expect much of the same when puck drops at the Wells Fargo Cetner on Thursday.
"We're going to take these two points, enjoy them on the plane ride, and get ready for a Philadelphia team that's going to push us in much the same way," Woodcroft stated.