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It’s a drought which carries with it at least two lessons about the Edmonton Oilers. One of those lessons is obvious and reflects on the past; one is less obvious and is highly important in the present.

First, the obvious: Edmonton has been a really bad team. Hemsky spent most of eight seasons after 2006 with the Oilers and never had a chance to play in a postseason game. The team’s performance over this span has been deeply embarrassing for pretty much everyone involved. And while anyone reading this undoubtedly appreciates that Edmonton has been bad in that span, a stat like “first playoff goal in a decade” is still a little jaw-dropping.

But there’s a second point, one which is less obvious but far more important for the current iteration of the franchise.

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It’s easy to forget, but Hemsky has a fine record in clutch situations. He led his junior team in playoff scoring in 2002. During the 2005 lockout, he was the playoff MVP in the top Czech league, leading his team to the championship; he’d also win world championship gold that year.

He was also a key contributor to Edmonton’s run in 2006, posting 17 points. With Edmonton down 3-2 in the third period against Detroit in the opening round of the playoffs he scored twice in the last five minutes; those goals knocked the heavily favoured Red Wings out of the playoffs. In the final he had two goals and six points, including points in all three Oilers wins in that round.

Now, finally having returned to the postseason, he’s back at it again. He had two assists through the first three games of the playoffs for Dallas before scoring in Game 4. Despite playing fewer minutes than most of the Stars’ key offensive players he ranks third in team scoring, behind only Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza.