When we last looked in on the Edmonton Oilers, they were struggling after the 4 Nations break, looking nothing like the team that had surged its way into first place of the Pacific Division.
The first game of the next eight game stretch wasn’t much better, as the Oilers dropped their second straight 3–2 game, this time to the New Jersey Devils. However, the Oilers would win the very next night in overtime against the New York Islanders, and then beat the other New York team 3–1.
The Oilers then returned home with a bang, spanking the Utah Mammoth Hockey Club 7–1, where the only downside to the game was that Leon Draisaitl somehow failed to manage a single point, breaking an 18-game point streak.
Draisaitl would end being scratched the next game against Winnipeg, and things got worse for the Oilers when Connor McDavid left the game in the second period with an injury after being cross checked by Josh Morrisey. The Oilers at least managed to force the game to overtime, but unfortunately the Jets were ultimately successful.
The Oilers without their stars
It was determined that both Draisaitl and McDavid would be out for the next game, and then later announced they would be out at least until after the March 29 Battle of Alberta versus Calgary.
The Oilers did well enough in their first game without their two superstars, beating the Seattle Kraken 5–4 off the back of a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hat trick.
The next game the team would come out firing against Dallas, putting up 14 shots to five in the first period. However, the Stars scored the only goal that period, followed by three more in the second, looking to put the game out of reach. Halfway through the third period, the Oilers started a comeback that fell just shy in a 4–3 loss.
The final game of this stretch was an abysmal one, with the Kraken getting revenge by way of a 6–1 victory. The Oilers looked to have scored the first goal of the game, but it was waved off when it was determined Connor Brown played the puck with a high stick prior to Jeff Skinner scoring. The Kraken then posted five second period goals, along with another in the third period, while only Zach Hyman could solve Joey Daccord.
This felt like an even worse stretch for the Oilers than the last one, but they went 4–3–1 to maintain a fairly comfortable hold on at least third place in the division with a very real ability to move up to second. First in the division may be a bit out of reach however.
So are things really dire for the team? Or is it not as bad as it seems?
Team stepping up without McDrai
In the three games without both McDavid and Draisaitl, the Oilers have gone 1–2 and were outscored 14–9. That doesn’t exactly look great.
But the team has looked to be playing well. Against both Dallas and the Kraken they had positive metrics, with only the second period being the time they were outplayed in each game.
Further, the Oilers have five players with three points in the three games, and another three players with two points.
It may be possible that this could actually turn out to be a good thing for the team, as the players have to elevate their game to compensate for the loss of McDavid and Draisaitl. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks to be regaining his form, with nine points in the last eight games (although that is from three three-point games). Players who have been harped on this season are also looking much better, such as Adam Henrique and especially Jeff Skinner, who has seen his ice time during the three games without McDrai raise to 17:15 per game, third amongst all forwards.
The most important part of this is that perhaps the Oilers have found themselves some new line combinations that could play a vital part in the playoffs.
Possibly the best Oilers line over this period has been Skinner, Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown. While it appears Janmark may never score again (a la Connor Brown last year), he has been playing quite well, having the second highest expected goals for percentage on the team during the last three games (only behind Skinner).
If this is a line that continue its momentum, that is a huge boon for the team to be able to run them out. If Draisaitl and McDavid need to play together to lessen their load while recovering from injury, then you now have a solid line that can handle its own.
Further, with both Nugent-Hopkins and Henrique playing well down the middle, that gives the team even more ability to run McDrai with confidence in the rest of the lines.
Injuries galore up and down the lineup
We have talked about McDavid and Draisaitl injuries, but they aren’t the only Oilers who have been having problems this stretch.
Mattias Ekholm missed the last game against Seattle, and has been in and out of the lineup with some kind of injury. Even when playing, he has not looked like his usual self.
Stuart Skinner has been injured twice in this stretch, with the last one being so bad he didn’t fly with the team to Seattle, resulting in Olivier Rodrigue being called up on an emergency basis. Say what you will about Skinner’s play (which has been not great lately), losing your starting goalie is still not ideal when you don’t have a solid 1B ready to go.
It seems like every game there is at least one player who goes off the ice and is not on the bench for a period of time, leading to even more worries. Luckily, it seems almost everyone has been able to come back, but this is a team that certainly cannot afford to lose anyone else.
The Final Stretch
The Oilers have 10 games left on the season, starting with the final Battle of Alberta (regular season at least) tonight.
Three of those games are against the bottom dwelling San Jose Sharks. While normally that would be seen as an easy victory, as we know, down the stretch the teams with nothing to play for tend to play looser and end up winning more than you would expect from one that is usually constructed to lose.
There are also two more games against the most likely playoff opponent, the Los Angeles Kings. Given the two teams are going back and forth between second and third place in the division, those two games will be about more than just sizing up your opponent as a prelude to the playoffs. Rather, they will be crucial games to determine who has home ice in the opening round.
The rest of the games are against the Vegas Golden Knights—which unless the Oilers get hot likely doesn’t matter for the division title anymore; the Anaheim Ducks, another dangerous trap game against a non-playoff team; the St. Louis Blues, where Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg can show GM Stan Bowman how he actually could have fielded a team around them; and the Winnipeg Jets, who will likely have first in the West all but locked up by that point.
This will the team’s last chance to work out all the kinks in what has been a very rollercoaster of a season, lest it ends with a quick drop in the first round.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
One Comment