The injuries are piling up. The Edmonton Oilers looks disoriented and discombobulated. They are struggling to win games, struggling to compete, and cannot seem to play a complete game.
Luckily, Leon Draisaitl returned for Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames and led the way with the game tying and overtime winning goals, his 50th and 51st of the season. But in the week’s earlier back-to-back against the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken, we were subjected to watching a near implosion in the first two-thirds of the Stars game until a late comeback attempt made the effort look less bad, and one of the worst periods this team has played in years in which they gave up five goals to the Kraken in the second period.
The injuries piling up this much shortly before the playoffs is concerning. You want to be healthy going into the playoffs, and now we are just seeing the Oilers struggle with injuries to key players at a pivotal time.
On the other hand, however, it will be a real chance to see what players on the rest of the roster can do in the meantime.
In the week’s three games, Draisaitl still led the team in scoring. He played one game. With two goals and one assist against the Flames, he topped the team this week. Tied with him was Evan Bouchard, who had three assists. While Zach Hyman, Adam Henrique, Darnell Nurse, and Corey Perry were the other players who had more than one point. In case it wasn’t obvious just how good Draisaitl is, and just how important he is to the team this season, the scoring leaderboard from the week he missed two of the three games should make it perfectly clear.
With Draisaitl back, the team’s fortunes look slightly better. However, this will not be an easy week coming up. Let’s take a look at the games in the week ahead for the Edmonton Oilers!
Edmonton Oilers games for the week of March 31 to April 6
The Oilers have three games on the slate this week, including a matchup against their likely first round opponent in the Los Angeles Kings.
| Opponent | Date | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Vegas Golden Knights | Tuesday, April 1 | 45–20–8 |
| San Jose Sharks | Thursday, April 3 | 20–44–9 |
| Los Angeles Kings | Saturday, April 5 | 41–23–9 |
Taking on the division leaders
Surprise surprise, the Vegas Golden Knights are heading into the final 10 games of the season with a commanding lead on the Pacific Division. The hockey factory in Vegas shows no signs of slowing down as they head into this week on a six game win streak and are well poised to make an impact in the postseason.
Vegas has an insanely deep team this season led by one of the league’s top scorers in Jack Eichel, who has 93 points in 72 games. He has far surpassed his career high in assists and points as he is well on his way to hitting 100 points for the first time in his career.
The Golden Knights will be aided by the return of Shea Theodore, who was injured in the four Nations Face-Off. He has played in three games, recording three points, since returning from injury. He is one of the most underrated offensive defenders in the league. This season, he has 51 points in 58 games. But he has been playing at a 50+ point pace since 2019–20, and the last couple of seasons he’s been closer to a 60–70 point pace. Health has always been a struggle, however, limiting his games played.
One breakout player to watch for the Golden Knights is Pavel Dorofeyev. In second season as a regular in the lineup, and first “full” season (he played 47 games last season), he has surpassed the 30-goal mark. Dorofeyev has become one of the most dangerous scorers in Vegas’ lineup, and will be a player that needs to be watched as the Oilers face them on Tuesday.
San Jose Sharks
Under normal circumstances, a game against the currently lowly Sharks would be a guaranteed win. But with the roster issues the Oilers are currently facing, this game will be more of a test than one might expect.
The Sharks sit dead last in the league heading into this week and should not pose much of a challenge. But an Oilers team with depth and injury issues might be a prime target for a motivated San Jose team, filled with some exciting young players trying to establish a role for themselves in the NHL, to attack.
There isn’t much to really keep an eye on from this team, but the young talent of Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund, and Will Smith are going to be fun to watch. Celebrini is one of the most talented and intelligent players in the league already, with 53 points in 60 games so far in his rookie season (update this after the Sunday game).
First-round playoff preview?
Another year, another early April game against the Los Angeles Kings that serves as a preview for the impending first round playoff series between these two teams. This is the likely scenario as the Oilers and Kings are battling for second and third in the Pacific Division, eight points ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and 11 points behind the Golden Knights.
The result is one of the fastest growing rivalries in the NHL. The playoff matchups have been getting feistier and feistier as the years go on and the Kings become more and more determined to win. And this season they have as good a chance as any with some astute moves in the offseason and the development of a couple crucial players in the lineup.
Former Oiler Warren Foegele is set to establish new career highs in all offensive categories with the bigger role he has been given in Los Angeles, currently sitting at 40 points (update after late game Sunday). And as we watch his replacement in Viktor Arvidsson struggle to fit in with just 23 points in 58 games, one begins to wonder if they should have just pencilled Foegele in the bigger role and kept him instead.
This will be a significant game for the Oilers to get themselves into playoff mode for the final handful of games. The Kings will be ready and will be physical. We will see if the Oilers can meet the challenge.
Keys to the week for the Edmonton Oilers
In times like this, the team needs to adjust and shift focus to find a way to lock in and remain competitive. In light of this, here are a few keys to the week to hopefully help them ride this through until the injuries start to subside.
Get Draisaitl the puck
Let’s face it, the offence of the team runs disproportionately through Draisaitl this season. He should be the favourite for the Hart Trophy, given everyone around him is having an off year and he has taken charge in the meantime.
After he still managed to lead the team in scoring despite only playing in one of the three games, it seems to be the smartest option to just get him the puck and let him control what happens on the ice for the Oilers at the moment. Let’s get him the Rocket Richard locked up, get him a few more points to hopefully clinch the Hart Trophy, and get one of the best playoff performers in NHL history in playoff mode in time for the postseason
Give Rodrigue a start
This may not necessarily be a key for the team’s success this week, but it still something the Oilers should do. Olivier Rodrigue was recalled on an emergency basis after Stuart Skinner was injured last week. He made his NHL debut in relief and received plenty of praise from his teammates. But why not give him an actual start? He is supposed to be the team’s top goaltending prospect, let’s see what they have. There’s even the perfect game this week, Thursday against the Sharks.
The other reason this might be good is that the team has an amazing ability to band together and rally in situations like this. The energy and camraderie in the locker room is top notch, so if the Oilers give Rodrigue a start, chances are the skaters in front of him will step up their game and make sure they play well.
Let everyone heal
Yes, it sucks to see this team struggle and lose with the best players out of the lineup. But this is not the time to rush anyone back early from injury. There’s two weeks of regular season left before the playoffs start in probably close to three weeks. The Oilers don’t have a for sure playoff spot, but they have an eight point lead with nine games left over the Canucks. Of those nine games, three are against the Sharks and one against the Anaheim Ducks.
Just let these players heal. Give others rest nights. And make sure everyone is as close to 100% as possible before game one against the Kings.
How do you think the Oilers will do this week? Drop a comment down below!
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
Mr Bright-side!!