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Penguins and Oilers Both Looking For A Pittsburgh Win Tonight

March 12, 2015, 9:46 AM ET [203 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Pittsburgh Penguins are finally back in game action tonight at home against the Edmonton Oilers. The Penguins are coming off an impressive 3 game stretch which included taking five of six points against Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose.

Tonight’s opponent leaves a lot more to be desired that those other opponents.

Currently the Edmonton Oilers are in a heated race, not for the playoffs, but for last place in the entire league. Much like Buffalo and Arizona the Oilers are trying to finish in dead last to guarantee themselves one of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel.

The March 12, 2015 version of the Oilers is a very bad hockey team, however they weren't as bad as people made them out to be at the beginning of the year.

The first 20 games of the year the Oilers had a Score-Adjusted Fenwick of 49.3% which was way better than the horrendous 43.6% they had for the 2013-14 season. The problem was that any gains made on the possession front were nullified by atrocious goaltending. The first 20 games of this season they ranked 29th overall with an EVSV% of .902. You would have a hard time earning victories even with a high caliber possession team with goaltending like that.

As the year went on and the losses piled up the Oilers decided to cut bait with some of their players and embrace yet another year chasing the lottery pick.

The Penguins were the beneficiary of the Oilers pawing off players as they were able to snag David Perron away for a 1st round pick and Rob Klinkhammer. This deal looks better and better considering what some of the deadline deals looked like.

Even though the goal scoring has dried up recently for Perron he and Crosby continue to drive possession at a high rate together.



Perron has been a positive fit for Crosby and will continue to be for at least one more season.

Even with only one goal in his last 12 games Perron still has a better goals per game average with Pittsburgh than he did with Edmonton this year (.36 vs .13).

Perron is in the same boat as Chris Kunitz. Both driving possession at a quality rate but both not putting the puck in the net. They will both start to find the back of the net again considering how often they play in the offensive zone.

In the last 20 games Edmonton’s Score-Adjusted Fenwick is 45.2% and their EVSV% is .904. There is really no excuse for the Penguins to not take total control of this game and come out with two points.

If we are being honest a victory by Pittsburgh is a win win for both organizations.

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Really encouraging stat on the defensive front




They are tied for second best in the NHL on the shot suppression front. The best way to avoid fluky goals is to not give up any shots. Pittsburgh is doing that right now.

Thanks for reading!

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