The team laid everything on the table against the Leafs but couldn’t beat their backup goalie or the posts that bailed him out all night. It was a tough outcome after a solid effort, but that doesn’t change the fact that 6 teams and 8 points separate them from a playoff spot. Good efforts without the accompanying points are of little solace anymore.

Edmonton’s bizarre schedule has been so skewed towards playing the East that after 30 games, only 11 have been played in their own conference. That is the only thing that Oiler fans can cling to right now. The remaining games in the schedule swing back in a big way towards the West. The Oilers have only seen the Canucks once this season. They haven’t even met the Ducks or the Sharks.

Here are the teams that are between the Oilers and a playoff spot and the record the Oilers have against them.

Calgary 2-0-0 3 games upcoming
Minnesota 0-0-0 3 games upcoming
Chicago 1-0-0 2 games upcoming
Anaheim 0-0-0- 4 games upcoming
Vancouver 0-1-0 3 games upcoming
Colorado 0-0-0- 3 games upcoming

While the Oilers have a middling record against the West (6-5-0), they have many opportunities to make up ground against the very teams that stand in their way. If that gives you any optimism at all then cling to it and hope against all hope that there is a miracle run in this team somewhere and holding off until the schedule changed to pit the Oil against their conference means it will have the biggest impact.

This is really unprecedented territory. Teams don’t just magically turn things around BUT here are some areas that can drastically make a difference for Edmonton.

1) Schedule. We just went through this above. After tonight the games are very West-centric and that favors the chances for a comeback.
2) Goaltending. Edmonton has been getting complete and total garbage for goaltending compared to a year ago. Brossoit had a .928 in 8 games last season and a .887 in 11 games this season. A 40 point drop for the backup is brutal. Cam Talbot dropped from .919 last season to .903 this season. A 15 point drop from the start puts Edmonton in real jeopardy. If the goaltending from here on out “normalizes” the Oilers will start making ground.
3) Health. It has been rotten, to sum things up. Between Draisiatl’s concussion and “mystery” black eye, Talbot and Larsson’s upper body injuries, and Sekera’s knee, this team has yet to play a complete lineup. Then you mix in the killer flu that hit McDavid and saw him lose 10 pounds and what you get is disaster. Sekera should be back within a month, Larsson and Talbot before then. McDavid is already looking healthier. That’s a boost.
4) Special Teams. The 5v5 numbers are promising for Edmonton. The special teams…not so much. However, these are also the most responsive to in-season changes. Alterations to the units or formations can have big impacts on the special teams. If the PK can get back to preventing goals instead of bleeding them, then there’s some hope.

LINEUP

Caggiula sits. Slepyshev returns.

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

Klefbom Benning
Nurse Russell
Auvitu Davidson

Brossoit

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Undeterred. This team needs to put in a good effort for the 3rd game in a row for the 1st time this season. They can sit and pout about failing to score. This team cant afford that kind of play any longer. Edmonton out-attempted and out-shot the Leafs by almost double the other night. Edmonton couldn’t push any harder if they wanted. What they can do is come back and trust that what they did will work most of the time.

2) Make The 1st Stop. I can’t explain why for the life of me, but the Oilers have allowed a goal in the 1st or 2nd shot of the game in a significant number of games. I believe we are up to 6 games for allowing a goal on shot 1. Laurent Brossoit needs to get this trend under control. The Oilers need to be ready from the moment the puck drops. That’s the forwards, defense, and the goalie.

3) Three vs Four. Tonight is a meeting of Pierre Luc Dubois and Jesse Puljujarvi. The Oilers managed to land JP only because the Blue Jackets went off the board to take PLD. Neither player has lit the world on fire, but both are still tracking very well. The Jackets found a kid who is currently leading their team in shot attempt percentage. He has 13 points in 30 games. Puljujarvi has 5 points in 13 games. One big difference is that Puljuajrvi isn’t getting any PP time. Dubois is getting 1:16 a night on the PP while JP is getting 19 seconds.

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

Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy

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