The Edmonton Oilers headed to the American capital, Washington, DC last night, to take on the Capitals. After an ugly 5–1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres two nights ago, it was imperative for the Oilers to prove that was a one-off. Letting that morph into a bigger trend would kill any hope for the rest of the road trip.
Hopefully everyone was parked in their seats by puck drop, because right off the hop there was action. For the first 15 minutes of the game, defence and goaltending on both sides was purely optional. And apparently, when the lineup is 11 forwards and seven defencemen, Darnell Nurse becomes indispensable. This was an 80’s-themed promotional night at Capital One Arena, and the start of the game certainly fit the bill.
Briefly, the two teams realized that maybe running-and-gunning wasn’t a good way to win a hockey game, and dug in. Offence would be hard to come by in the second period, but would return in the third period. Ultimately, the deciding goal came in the third period with the same flaw that has been shown before. A defenceman (Mattias Ekholm) not taking away the passing lane on a two-on-one against. They teach you that as a defenceman at an early age.
Defence once again makes too many mistakes, and there’s not nearly enough saves to make up for their shortcomings. Oilers lose 5–4 *delete delete* 6–4 *delete delete* 7–4 thanks to two empty-netters. Bleh. Here’s the game story.
The only defenceman to show up on time was Darnell Nurse
The fanbase has chewed out Nurse’s play so far this season, and rightfully so. The underlying stats were confirming what the eye test was telling us all along. Nurse has been brutal so far this season. Never was it more evident than on the 4–1 goal in the Sabres game, where his controller disconnected while he was right in front of Stuart Skinner:
It seems the simple answer is to just roll with an 11-7 lineup, as it’s referred to. Nurse, in this contest, was seemingly more engaged. He (wasn’t?) primarily at fault for any goals against; critical, given how porous he’s been there. Even better, though, he kept the Oilers in it with these two first-period tallies.
The rest of the defence once again went through the wringer, with several defensive breakdowns. Especially in the first period, the Capitals only had three goals, but they could have easily nabbed five or six. This is a major example of one instance where it’s fair to wonder what the absolute heck the defence is doing.
To be fair, the defence did have some bright moments, particularly in breaking up a three-on-one following the David Tomášek goal. But everybody on the back end has to lock in, and play better. Bad nights happen, but abysmal ones are becoming too common. Stem the tide.
Saves optional for two goalies auditioning for the Olympics
In true 1980’s fashion, neither goaltender had a standout game tonight. Skinner needed a couple more saves and failed to provide them. The more collectively concerning fact is that both Skinner, and Caps goaltender Logan Thompson, have been in the Olympic conversation for Team Canada earlier in November. The “controversy” surrounding Team Canada goaltending sure isn’t what it was 10 to 15 years ago.
We’re not gonna do a full breakdown, except to say that there were less than 50 shots combined (not counting empty netters) and nine goals were scored. The collective save percentage in this game was .816. Peak 1980’s throwback. And certainly not the hot Stu we saw last week against the Flyers and Hurricanes.
The end of the road trip cannot come soon enough for both Skinner, and Calvin Pickard who will start tonight in Tampa Bay. A lengthy reset is needed for both ‘tenders, and some home cooking could help in that regard. Then again, the last time that was said, Colorado happened. Woof. Both Skinner and Pickard need to find some way to be better, with seemingly no reinforcements on the horizon.
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Forwards scoring is still a major concern for this team
Through 40 minutes, once again, the Oilers had not had a goal off the stick of a forward. This has happened far too often this season, where their offensive punch largely falls asleep. It has been a major factor for some of their losses earlier on in November, and in October.
At last, they woke up in the third period. Of all players, it was Tomášek converting off an excellent feed from former Capital Andrew Mangiapane. If they can find some consistent chemistry like they found here, that would really help the depth scoring out.
Leon Draisaitl looked off his game for the better part of the night, which was concerning. It’s a major part of why scoring ran dry for two full periods in this one. He would eventually strike on the power play to make it 5–4:
Ultimately it would be too little, too late, as the team couldn’t find that fifth goal to even things up. The theme of the year continues for Edmonton: Forwards missing in action. Apart from Draisaitl, no forward has consistently scored goals yet, and we’re deep into November already. This has to be permanently remedied soon, somehow.
The formidable Sunshine State awaits…
Tampa tonight, Florida on Saturday night. This image is way too appropriate here.
At the very least, Florida is mangled by injuries right now, so maybe some hope there. We’ll see what the team can do tonight against the Bolts. Puck drop is at 5:30 PM local time.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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