The Oilers lost last night against the Predators and they deserved to lose. The fact that they salvaged a point is great, but they didn’t play well enough to earn the win. They were out-shot 44-32 and out attempted 80-58. The Predators owned the puck during regulation and the game didn’t tilt back in Edmonton’s favor until OT. Once again, McDavid and Draisaitl lead the charge in OT and McLellan’s strategy 3v3 is fantastic, but there’s a whole game to play before the Oilers get there.

Klefbom and Larsson in particular got their lunch money stolen by the Preds, finishing -23 and -22 in attempts respectively (that’s hella bad). Translated into plain English, that pairing spent the night in their own zone 5v5. The game before that it was the Sekera-Russell pair that struggled. What’s worrisome is that this is two games in row where the Oilers were outplayed. They say that happens when winning streaks end. You win games you don’t deserve to win and then the bottom falls out.

Picking up points is fantastic, but the next three games (including tonight) are against Division rivals and the Oilers need to get their game together. One man who finally looked like himself again was Milan Lucic. For the past 2 months we’ve been politely ignoring the fact that Lucic has looked like $6 million dollar anchor around the Oilers’ neck. He wasn’t going to the front of the net. He wasn’t asserting himself physically. Heck, some media guys were fretting about the fact that he wasn’t even taking penalties.

Last night Milan Lucic was a wrecking ball, just ask Watson (if he can even remember that hit). Lucic finished the night with just a single shot but that’s all he needed to score the game-tying goal. He spent a good portion of the night at the front of the Nashville net. His line, though still below 50% in shot attempts, was the Oilers’ most effective. He levelled Watson with a devastating hit-of-the-year type collision that drew the attention of the Preds seconds later. He drew an extra penalty on that retaliation and sent the Oil to a 5v3. He would score a PP goal seconds later to tie it all up at 2.

Oh yeah, he also demolished Cody McLeod in a fight was forgettable only because Lucic made such quick work of McLeod that you could be convinced that it didn’t happen at all. In total, Lucic delivered the kind of game that Chiarelli paid all that money and term for. He was finally an impact player again, and make no mistake he made an impact.

I don’t know what McLellan needs to do to get that version of Lucic to show up more often, but the ends will justify the means. I don’t care if it requires full on mental warfare. I don’t care if Lucic is basically the Waterboy and needs to get angry at Colonel Sanders in order to Hulk up. Whatever works.

LINEUP

I was expecting Hendricks to come out but now that he’s scored a goal I’m not sure. Brossoit plays!

Maroon McDavid Draisaitl
Pouliot RNH Eberle
Lucic Caggiula Slepyshev
Hendricks Letestu Kassian

Klefbom Larsson
Sekera Russell
Davidson Benning

Brossoit
Talbot

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Reset. The Oilers need to reset. The last two games have been below average by the new standards and if the team keeps playing that way then it will be harder to get points over these next three games. And make no mistake, the next 3 games are the biggest of the year. Calgary, Anaheim, San Jose are not the trio of games you want in front of you when it looks like your play is starting to slump. So this game is about resetting things and getting back to the kind of play that has taken Edmonton to within spitting distance of the Pacific Division’s apex. This even applies to the McDavid line, which never looks bad per se, but hasn’t been its usual dominant self either. Smarter breakouts and simple plays in the neutral zone are welcome.

2) Boring Sean Monahan. The 22 year old center for the Flames started the year making everyone wonder if signing him to that long term deal for relatively big bucks was a huge mistake. However, he’s been turning his game around and now has 9 points in his last 10 games and he’s riding a 4 game point streak. So the Oilers would be keen to keep an eye on this kid tonight. I imagine the Nugent-Hopkins line will see a heathy dose of Monahan, since that trio takes on the best of the opposition most nights. In turn the Flames will probably push Backlund against McDavid. If the Oilers lose the plot at some point it’s likely going to be falling asleep at the wheel with Monahan out there.

3) Blunt Instruments. The Oilers are a skilled team. Just by having McDavid in the lineup they instantly get that title, but Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, and Eberle are also all skill players. These guys are fine instruments and they have their place in the lineup. They have value. But the blunt instruments, as shown last night, also have their time and place. If McDavid is a scalpel then Lucic is a bone saw. There are times when you need the bone saw, and Bone Saw is ready. The point here is that Edmonton does have multiple ways to attack teams now and they are all the more effective when they use all those ways to make it happen. They have McDavid’s speed, Nuge’s passing ability, Draisaitl’s puck protection, and a few guys like Lucic, Maroon, and Hendricks who can take the game in a physical direction. I hope Lucic woke up and remembered that he doesn’t have to play a skill game to complement Edmonton’s top players. He just has to do the job he was made to do.

Puck drops tonight at 8PM Mountain Time on Hockey Night in Canada. Game On!

Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy

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