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G30 Oilers vs Leafs: Get Rolling

December 10, 2017, 12:49 PM ET [202 Comments]
Matt Henderson
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Well, well, well. That was a positive turn of events. The Oilers exploded for 6 goals against Price and the Habs last night before flying out to Toronto today. The offense was clicking. The goaltending was sharp. The good times were flowing.

As far as offense goes, 10 of 12 Oiler forwards finished with at least 1 point in that game. The Oilers directed 40 shots on net in that game to just 24 against. It was 32-20 in just 5v5 play alone. That kind of performance was necessary for this group to remind themselves that they haven’t lost all of their ability.

This season it has felt like the club lost skill, but even accounting for the mismanagement of assets up front, the Oilers should be better than they have been. This is a club that is a leader in possession and scoring chance percentage and yet cant win enough games to contend. Certainly some of that is the loss of skill in the Eberle trade, but they still have McDavid, Maroon, Nuge, and Draisaitl. This isn’t a team devoid of talent.

As we mentioned in yesterday’s GDB, the special teams are as much responsible for Edmonton’s demise as anything else. The Oilers 5v5 have a positive goal differential. They have 61 goals for and 59 goals against. The problem is that they only have 14 PP goals (and 3 shorties against) compared to a league worst 27 goals against on the PK (and 4 shorties for).

Special teams is 12 goals in the red this season.

Through December 9th of LAST SEASON, the Oilers had 21 PP goals for and 3 shorties against. The PK allowed just 14 against and had 3 shorties for. That’s a net positive of 7 to go along with their positive 5v5 goal scoring.

When you allow twice as many goals against on the penalty kill compared to what you did last year, your season is going to be in the ditch. It’s hard not to point your blame on that one spot. Frankly, heads should be rolling over this. McLellan’s coaching staff is as much to blame as the poor goaltending and it probably cost the team a playoff spot and millions of dollars in revenue.

The Oilers are still 2nd last in the Western Conference with 26 points in the standings. They need to leap-frog past 6 teams in order to get into a Wild Card spot. While technically not impossible, it is highly improbable given the realities of the NHL and their point system. If the team wants to have a chance then that win against the Canadiens needs to be part of a larger streak. The Oilers are 5-5 in their last 10 games and that’s not good enough. They need to ram it down Toronto’s throat tonight and then win another 4 of their 5 after that before the dream start looking even semi-realistic.

LINEUP

We understand that Brossoit is going to get the start tonight. We would expect the backup to play in the 2nd half of a back-to-back, but maybe the coach just wants to reward solid goaltending when he can.

Lucic McDavid Puljujarvi
Maroon RNH Cammalleri
Walker Draisaitl Strome
Khaira Letestu Kassian

Klefbom Benning
Nurse Russell
Auvitu Davidson

Brossoit

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Don’t Stop. If the Oilers can be accused of anything this year, it’s inconsistent performances. The club has been lousy for having a good game then following it up with an atrocity. When you’ve only won back-to-back twice in the season, it’s fair to take heat on this. It absolutely is a leadership issue. That’s not to say McDavid is a poor Captain or McLellan is a bad coach, but it’s the entire leadership group that is responsible for that. I’m not going to hammer on Kassian for a less than effective game if he turns one in, but McDavid, Draisaitl, and Klefbom will deserve that criticism. It’s on their backs that the success of this club survives. They have to be Edmonton’s best.

2) Both Teams Tired? The Oilers wont be able to claim being on a back-to-back as an excuse in this one. Toronto is in the same boat. The only difference is that they got to sleep in their own beds last night. The Oilers routed the Habs yesterday evening, but the Leafs were busy themselves beating the Pittsburgh Penguins. Oh, and the Penguins threw a lot more at them than the Habs threw at Edmonton. Pittsburgh dropped 70 shot attempts on the Leafs last night. That’s a lot of time in their own zone, defending against some of the most dangerous players in the NHL. If the Oilers can get behind the Toronto defense, this could work to their advantage.

3) JP Wiser. Jesse Puljujarvi had a goal taken back last night that upon review was off the crossbar, but he shot the thing so damned hard that it wasn’t easy to tell. The goal-light was on the scoreboard already changed before they called it back. He ended up picking up an assist on the night and now has 4 points in his last 6 games. He is far and away the team leader in shots per 60 during 5v5 play with 11.82 shots/60 through 157 minutes. We’ve seen that shot be pretty lethal, but what we haven’t seen is hom get a chance to use it much on the Power Play. The kid averages 20 seconds a night on the PP this season. Get him on the main unit and set up for that one-timer.

Puck drops tonight at 5PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet. Game On!

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