[getbak]

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/h...esident-genius

Terry Jones: He's baaaaack – Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli looking like the resident genius

For the entire calendar year, Peter Chiarelli has been a combination of the village wart carrier and village idiot.

Friday night at Rogers Place, almost everywhere you looked, the Edmonton Oilers general manager appeared to be the resident genius.

It was a night when all Chiarelli’s major moves combined together to create the storyline of a game and, indeed, the season to this point.

First, of course, there was coach Ken Hitchcock. Then there was his $2.5 million ‘mistake’ Mikko Koskinen keeping a clean sheet for most of the night while the Oilers methodically went to work on the Philadelphia Flyers.

And then there was the GM’s other off-season acquisition, Alex Chiasson, scoring to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead that became 3-0 in the second period and ended up 4-1 with Connor McDavid scoring his second goal of the night and 19th of the season into an empty net, as both he and Leon Draisaitl made it a three-point night.

With the win, the Oilers moved into a three-way tie for second place in the Pacific Division with the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks, with 39 points in 33 games.

You wanted the Oilers to be in contention at Christmas? You can’t get much more in contention than that!

As the days count down on the final month of 2018, Chiarelli is getting close to the point of restoring public confidence in his ability.

After this story was written, the Oilers lost their next 6 games, including 5 in a row at Rogers Place. Chiarelli was fired less than 6 weeks after this story was posted.