The Edmonton Oilers returned home last night to take on the Nashville Predators. This was their fourth consecutive game against a Central Division opponent, with the last three having produced an even 1–1–1 record. Overall on the four-game road trip, Edmonton banked five out of a possible eight standings points. Not ideal, certainly with the point left on the table against the St. Louis Blues last game. But roughly what we expected the Oilers would settle for.
This observer always includes the above feature in articles, which is dubbed the “Bluesky Post of the Night.” Mostly, it’s done to give a voice to an additional sect of Oilers fans, and also because it’s easier to find these than searching through the vast online land formerly known as Twitter. In this case, the post detailed, and ultimately foreshadowed, exactly what would need to happen in this game.
The one issue was that the Oilers had to do that without Leon Draisaitl for the final 40 minutes of the game. But they got the job done in the end, and that’s important.
Oilers win 3–1.
After a rough past couple of outings, this was an excellent get-right game. Now all the Oilers need to do is keep banking points during this homestand, before the challenges next week will bring. Here’s the game story.
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Draisaitl targeted and knocked out, teammates answer the bell
Why, might one ask, would the Oilers have to play the second and third periods without Draisaitl, on his bobblehead night no less? Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt is why. In the first period, he took a run at Draisaitl, knocking him into the boards. By the letter of the rulebook, and by passing glance, it is a legal hit, clean as a whistle. The intent is a little murkier, and the end result is crushing for the Oilers. After the game, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch didn’t have a concise injury update. However, he did indicate that it initially seems like it’s not a major injury, which is a massive relief if confirmed.
To the team’s credit, they heeded Zach Hyman’s words from three nights prior in Dallas. In that game, Connor McDavid had to personally drop the gloves with Stars forward Justin Hryckowian. Hyman called the team out, basically saying there were too many passengers for most of the game. This time around, the Oilers played with a lot more snarl, especially after Wiesblatt’s hit.
Edmonton did get dinged with a couple more penalties than they probably would have liked, for said snarl. But after the first period, they found a way to exact a physical price without trips to the sin bin. Jake Walman provided the most notable instance with an absolute demolition of Wiesblatt in the second period. Shoutout as well to Vasily Podkolzin dropping the gloves with Nicolas Hague.
This was a much better response on Edmonton’s part. Don’t let other teams push you around, and make it clear they’ll have a tougher game to play through if they touch the star players. That grit will certainly be needed come playoff time.
Oilers special teams dominated this game from start to finish
The major key to victory in this game was the power play and penalty kill units. Before Draisaitl left, he did make sure to make Nashville pay on the scoreboard. Even when his ice time is cut short, he and McDavid will still own the Preds at the end of the day. This goal was a power play tally to break the ice early on.
After the power play set the tone, the penalty kill held its end of the bargain. All night, they allowed the Preds very little, even when having to kill off four penalties in the first half of the game, and five overall. Any time Nashville tried to enter the zone, they’d maybe get 20 or 30 seconds of zone time before the puck found its way out of the Oilers end.
Games are often won and lost by who has the better special teams. The Oilers, far and away, had the better set in this game. That alone earned them this win.
The offence didn’t get much done but this time they didn’t need to
Matt Savoie made it a 2–0 contest by cashing in on an excellent feed. If he can continue to perform well on McDavid’s line, watch out. That would allow the Oilers to put Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (congrats to him and his wife, by the way, on the birth of their second child!) back at third-line centre, and shift Adam Henrique over to the wing. That would instantly make this team look even more lethal, all thanks to the youngster Savoie.
Aside from a Hyman empty-netter, that was all she wrote for Oilers scoring in this game. That’s three straight games with just two non-empty net goals scored, which is a little concerning for this team. Just as we were all convinced they had found their scoring touch post-Olympic break, they’re now having trouble again.
Fortunately, the defence did its job on this night, and did it well. Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard, Connor Murphy, Jake Walman, and ex-Pred’ Spencer Stastney were all very stout. Even the much-maligned Darnell Nurse had a couple of plays in this game where he was responsible for preventing a scoring chance against. The Paul Coffey Effect may be taking hold now.
Ideally, the Oilers don’t want to have to win every game 2–1. But being able to is critical to any form of success. To see the defence show that they’re still capable of gems like this is the biggest and best gift we could receive as fans.
Ingram now the starter, and both the timing and his play prove it
Knoblauch, prior to the game, anointed Connor Ingram the starting goalie moving forward. He in turn rewarded the coach with a second straight solid performance. After stopping 20 of 22 Blues shots in regulation on Friday night, he turned aside 26 of 27 Preds shots in this game, earning the Third Star in the process. His play this season has been much better than that of Tristan Jarry, so he’s earned the starter’s net.
Beyond the state of goaltending performances, there’s another key aspect to making that decision now. The Stars-Blues back-to-back was Edmonton’s penultimate, or second-last, set of the season. The only back-to-back remaining for the Oilers is in early-April, at Utah and San Jose. Additionally, both next week and the week after, the Oilers get Sunday and Monday off.
In other words, the schedule affords them the luxury of rolling with Ingram for 13 of the remaining 14 games if they want to. Or, maybe 10 or 11 of the remaining 14 while giving Jarry more favourable matchups such as the season finale against the Vancouver Canucks. This is the perfect time, as such, to declare your starter. And the way Ingram is playing right now, it’s looking like the right choice has been made.
