We are all breathing a little easier today, going into this game having broken that losing streak. Psychologically, I think the Oilers needed to win a low scoring game again just to let them know their defense and goaltending isn’t going to let them down all the time.

The Oiler 5v5 shot differential continued to grow, even in a close game. McLellan’s club outshot the Hawks 34-20 during 5v5 play. It’s a very positive sign and if this keeps up then eventually these Oilers are going to break out and start putting up some huge games. The Oilers are now up to 187-129 in shots 5v5. If they can cut down on the amount of penalties they are taking it will help the overall total.

The Oilers are getting some solid puck movement out of Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom, and Yohann Auvitu right now. It is absolutely critical to the team’s success that the defense is getting the puck up to the forwards with some speed. McDavid and maybe RNH are the only players right now who can make their way from the DZ to the OZ without much help. Everyone else needs those blueliners to transition the puck to them.

Edmonton’s defense is a concern overall because it’s thin on feature players, but it does look like they have a competent 3rd pairing and a 1st that’s capable of playing solid hockey. It’s about consistency in the top 4, however. When Klefbom and Larsson struggle, the Oilers struggle. When Russell and Nurse are hemmed in their own zone, it’s white-knuckle time.

It was nice to see reports that Andrej Sekera was back skating with the team. I have no idea of the timetable for his return, but I’ll be excited for anything that comes before Christmas and ecstatic for anything before December. It has only been 5 months since his knee surgery. He could be a much needed boost to the 2nd pairing, if he can get up to speed relatively quickly.

But hoping for Sekera to save the 2nd pair is waiting for a hero to arrive. Nurse and Benning will be rotating in and out of that spot as the coaching staff sees fit. It’s going to be a slog for the two young defenders, but there really isn’t any other option the coaching staff seems ready to explore. Benning’s “illness” has conveniently given the team a chance to bench a player who started the year poorly. The problem is that he was placed in a position to fail right from the beginning. Playing with Russell is no simple task.

Nurse has done a better job as Russell’s partner than Benning had. Watching Nurse, you have to believe that his raw athleticism and skating ability are helping him bail out the pair and move the puck out of the defensive zone with control. The nicest thing I can say about Nurse’s partner is that he’s a good skater, and that’s true. One thing I’ve noticed early in this season is that he’s making an effort to use his abilities more than just throwing it up blindly along the walls.

As Nurse and Russell or Nurse and Benning become more acquainted, one hopes that they continue to improve their ability to read off of each other and become more efficient puck movers. What we’re looking for is better possession numbers overall when they are on the ice. Nurse has done pretty well this year and last. Russell…not so much. But it stands to reason that the faster the puck gets back onto the sticks of the forwards, the less likely it ends up in the back of the Oiler net. And hopefully the team wont need Russell to starfish all over the ice.

LINEUP

Draisaitl revealed yesterday that he wasn’t quite ready to play. He’s out again.

Maroon McDavid Yamamoto
Lucic RNH Strome
Jokinen Malone Kassian
Pakarinen Letestu Slepyshev

Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Russell
Auvitu Gryba

Talbot

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Breaking Through. The Oilers are exactly sitting back and depending on McDavid to perform his magic. It’s just that right now only McDavid’s magic is penetrating the force field surrounding the opposition net. 3 of the 4 players at the top of Edmonton’s shot totals have yet to score a single goal. Of Edmonton’s top 7 shot producers, only McDavid has scored more than 1 goal. When it comes to 5v5 play, only the Canadiens have a lower shooting percentage as a team. That’s going to change. When it does, it might feel like a flood of offense.

2) Nuge. Connor McDavid is the best player on the team, but Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been probably their most consistent. The Draisiatl injury has put more eyes on RNH to start the year and he has not disappointed. He is playing with lots of confidence in the offensive zone, is as defensively conscious as ever, and now has had success in the faceoff circle. I joked that Nuge was just too nice to cheat and so his faceoff percentages sucked until they cracked down on faceoff infractions. There might be something to that, but lots of research has shown that faceoff success has a lot more to do with experience and age. Today, Nuge has a 56.2 FOW% and leads the Oil with 50 wins.

3) Hot Start For Skilled Flyers. The Flyers are a 4-3 overall, but that’s not because their top players aren’t getting involved offensively. The leaders for the Flyers are off to a blazing start. Philly has 5 players off to a point per game pace or better through their first 7 games. The Oilers have Connor McDavid. Voracek hasn’t scored a goal yet, but has 10 assists. Gostisbehere has 10 points. Giroux has 9. Simmonds and Couturier have 7. Edmonton has to beware of this group and that’s before we factor in that the Flyers always seem to find their offense when playing Edmonton.

Puck drops this morning at 11AM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!

Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy

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