The Edmonton Oilers have a very mediocre 4–2–1 record since the Trade Deadline. The addition of Jake Walman has absolutely stabled the blueline and has been insulated well with having three assists, a +4, and a ton of blocked shots racked up since then.
However, two glaring weaknesses have shown up again since then and it was the two areas the Oilers neglected to fix: the goaltending and their finishing on offence. Trent Frederic has yet to play and will for sure add some more offensive juice to the team, but he shouldn’t of been the only add up from. Just how bad has the goaltending and depth scoring been? Let’s go game by game and take a look.
The 5–4 win against the Dallas Stars
The Oilers played an incredible forty minutes in this game. Zach Hyman started the scoring by burying two goals, including one from a sexy outlet pass from Jake Walman; Viktor Arvidsson buried one on a one-timer, Connor McDavid did his usually spectacular stuff on a breakaway, and Connor Brown joined the fun in the late second.
However, Stuart Skinner happened. Despite only putting 0.85 xG on net in the third period 5v5, Dallas scored two goals during the even strength time. Jamie Benn was a weak backhand right in front of Skinner and Matt Dumba beat him clean from the blue line. Skinner ended the game with a -0.71 GSAx. Not a great night for him at all. The Oilers depth goals both came from Arvidsson and Brown, so not much to critique on the forward side of things.
How did the Oilers manage to lose to the Sabres?
This game is the perfect example of the two issues driving the result into a loss. Yes, the Oilers hit a ton of posts. Yes, Ukko-Pekka Luukonen was unreal. That’s where the Oilers finishing and depth scoring come into play. It’s non-existent, just like it has been for almost the entire McDavid era. Their own goal scorers were Bouchard and Darnell Nurse. (mostly because Kris Knoblauch loves their D to shoot the puck). You need to bury the chances the Buffalo Sabres bleed and they didn’t.
On the goaltending, again Stuart Skinner had a negative GSAx this time with a -0.61. That Tage Thompson goal was such an inexcusable rebound to let out. Cover the puck. The Oilers forwards fiddling around with the puck around the perimeter with the empty net surely did not help either. Brutal game.
The close game against the Devils
The Oilers killed the New Jersey Devils all game long and again lost it due to their horrendous finishing and goaltending. First off, the goal scorers in this game were Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, which is great to see your star players producing, but you’ll notice a trend here soon where they’re the only few being mentioned.
The goaltending was just laughably bad again. Two shots from the point beat Skinner clean and lost all and any momentum the Oilers had. You can argue the Jesper Bratt one was touch due to the deflection but that Simon Nemec one is just terrible as it not only happened 95 seconds after the Bratt one, but there was zero traffic in front and it ends up being the game winning goal. Goalies make saves through screens and battles all the time except the Oilers’ netminders. Skinner, again, had a negative GSAx with a -0.39.
The overtime winner against the Islanders
Another game where the Oilers dominated and another game where they almost got goalied again. But hey, it ends up with a win! 5v5 this game wasn’t even close with the Oilers putting 2.23 xG onto Ilya Sorokin compared to the measly 0.83 the Islanders had. Leon Draisaitl was all over the place and should of had more than two goals in this game. At this point, Leon Draisaitl is the only forward on this road trip to score for the team. Not good!
Calvin Pickard had a strong performance with a GSAx of 0.6. That’s what you like to see from your backup. The Oilers probably deserved a better offensive outcome fate, but like I said, the lack of finishing from their depth guys and the system relying on point shots gave them their low output.
Another win in New York
Well would you look at that? A game where Stuart Skinner stole a win! The Oilers were outplayed for most of this match but Skinner held in strong with a very impressive 2.81 GSAx. Corey Perry got the Oilers started on the power play, marking him the second forward to score on this road trip, Viktor Arvidsson and Connor McDavid later joined the fun beating Igor Shesterkin clean on his glove and blocker side. Great way to end the road trip after seeing how it started.
A smashing win against the Utah Hockey Club
The offence finally came alive for this game. The Oilers peppered both Vejmelka and Stauber during this game putting up a wicked 3.58 xG 5v5. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his first goal in about a month on a beautiful shorthanded backhand top shelf, Hyman buried one as soon as a power play expired, McDavid did his thing again on the breakaway, Hyman buried another, and Podkolzin and Arvidsson notched a few later on. Podkolzin also got his first goal since Early February. Pickard, while not too busy, had a respectable 0.57 GSAx.
So what’s the verdict after the deadline?
The Oilers are what they are at this point and nothing has really changed since the season began. The goaltending is super spotty with very brief glimpses of brilliance. The depth scoring is non-existent with players going over a month without scoring (Jeff Skinner scored two goals today… keep him there Knob!) while most of the heavy lifting is done by Draisaitl or McDavid.
Frederic will definitely help in regards to finishing and on the forecheck, but I don’t think it’ll be enough sadly. With this recent injuries now too to both McDavid and Draisaitl, it’s time for the team… well to “dig in” and find their stride without their two stars. Thursday night versus Winnipeg in the third period is a nice start, let’s see if they can maintain it.
Stats are from NaturalStatTrick and MoneyPuck
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
