The Edmonton Oilers refuse to make things simple. It would be too easy and boring to simply win the game, wouldn’t it? It would be missing the tension of late tie games and the dramatic flair of overtime winners. That’s gotta be why the team keeps giving up leads lately, I’d imagine?
Nevertheless, the Oilers have won three straight games for the first time this season as they defeated the Nashville Predators 3–2 in overtime. Edmonton has now moved to a 9–7–1 record and sit sandwiched between their Western Canadian rivals, below the Vancouver Canucks but now above the Calgary Flames, in the standings.
The highly anticipated game almost got off to a quicker start than anyone could have hoped for as Connor McDavid nearly recorded his 1000th point in the first minute. Though he did not get it on that play, he eventually did.
Momentum shifted in Edmonton’s favour from that point on and despite giving up the first goal of the game, they responded in the second period and spent most of the rest of the game in the lead. Key words there are most of. A late tying goal sent this one to overtime where Darnell Nurse scored his second of the game to take the W.
Let’s take a deeper look at a few takeaways and key points from this game.
McDavid’s 1000th point
Everything else in this game was overshadowed by the biggest accomplishment of the night. Connor McDavid becoming the 99th player of all time, and fourth youngest, to reach the 1000 point milestone. It could not have been scripted any better as he scored a goal off of a Leon Draisaitl pass on a two-on-one.
To commemorate the experience, McDavid was awarded all three stars of the game in his special night.
Podkolzin looks good but cannot find the scoresheet
So far this season, it is clear that Vasily Podkolzin is a talented player who puts in a ton of work to be the best he can be. Head Coach Kris Knoblauch has publicly praised him, members of the team’s media have caught him as the first player out and last one off in practice, as well as doing additional work with the training staff. And it does pay off. Podkolzin is often one of the most noticeable forwards on the ice, even in some of the more difficult games.
But the effort, unfortunately, has not led to many results on the scoresheet of yet. Podkolzin has just three assists in 17 games.
According to Natural Stat Trick, he is near the top of the team in possession metrics like Corsi for percentage (63.5%) and scoring chances for percentage (59.4%), but the actual performance while on the ice puts him near the bottom of the team with a measly 36.4 goals for percentage. With the amount of chances and shots the Oilers generate and prevent while Podkolzin is on the ice, he actually has an individual expected goals for percentage of 62.4%, once again near the top of the team. The 26% difference between actual and expected goals for is the largest discrepancy on the team amongst lineup regulars.
It is great to see Podkolzin performing this well, and he continued to show it in this game with his aggressive forecheck and some nifty little passes to Draisaitl in the offensive zone, but he does need to find a way to help himself or his linemates capitalize on these chances. One key chance was a pass to a streaking Podkolzin in the middle of the third period where he tried to control the puck instead of deflect it towards the net. He negated the entire chance by doing so.
If he doesn’t find a way to start turning these chances into goals, he will eventually find himself on the outside looking in. Especially when Evander Kane returns and can provide a similarly aggressive playstyle, but with a more proven scoring pedigree.
Why can’t they hold onto leads?
All season, leads have been both hard to come by and hard to hold. The latter has been the trend over the last four games. Against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Oilers gave up a late lead and lost in regulation. Against the Vancouver Canucks, the Oilers nearly gave up a multi-goal lead before exploding in the middle of the third period and winning 7–3. Against the New York Islanders, the Oilers gave up a late typing goal and eventually won in overtime. And tonight against the Predators, Edmonton gave up a tying goal with less than three minutes remaining.
This is an incredibly concerning trend from a team with such high expectations. The inability to close out games, especially those which the Oilers have largely dominated, is something that needs to be studied and adapted to by the coaching staff.
We see the plays and goals being given up and largely, they should not be happening in the first place. Weak shots from a distance. Poor defensive reads leading to breakaways against (such as the tying goal against the Predators). These are all things that can and will happen over the course of a season. But to happen this many times so early on (as it has not just been these last four games the Oilers have struggled to hold onto leads) is beyond concerning.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
