24 skaters haves suited up for the Edmonton Oilers so far this season. Of those 24, 12 of them have registered a goal and 12 of them haven't. The embarrassing lack of scoring throughout this lineup should have this team somewhere in the middle to bottom of the NHL standings, but here we are 15 games into the season and the Edmonton Oilers still lead the division. Some will say "hey the team is finding different ways to win games."
Those people would be wrong.
There is only strategy the Oilers are using to win games right now:
1.) Draisaitl and McDavid running the show. 2.) Goaltending constantly outplaying the opposing netminder despite facing way more HD scoring chances. 3.) Score on the powerplay.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are 1 and 2 respectively amongst all forwards this season in TOI/GP. Both average over 23 minutes a game being utilized in all situations; PP, PK, and at EV. Tippett is running these two ragged and you can't blame him, the only time the team is producing anything consistent is when they are on the ice. Both players are going to look 30 years older by the time game 40 rolls around at this rate.
Tonight the Oilers begin a three game homestand against a division rival in the Phoenix "Don't Ever Ask Me To Call Them Arizona" Coyotes. Of the 13 remaining games the Oilers play in November, 8 of them are against division rivals. 6 of those games are played on the road. Somehow, someway Edmonton needs to figure out how to get more pucks on net, some form of secondary scoring, or sacrifice a goat otherwise we could be discussing their position in the standings very differently.
LINEUP
OILERS
Draisaitl-McDavid-Chiasson Neal-RNH-Kassian Khaira-Granlund-Gagner Haas-Cave-Russell
Nurse-Bear Klefbom-Persson Russell-Benning
Koskinen
- Tippett clearly wasn't happy with what he got out of his lines last game so out comes the blender.
COYOTES
Hayton-Dvorak-Kessel Grabner-Stepan-Hinostroza Keller-Schmaltz-Garland Crouse-Soderberg-Fischer
OEL-Demers Chychrun-Goligoski Ness-Oesterle
Kuemper
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OILERS PLAYER SPOTLIGHT - LEON DRAISAITL Leon Draisaitl isn't the best player in the NHL but through the first 15 games of the season he is certainly playing like he is. It has been Draisaitl, not McDavid who is pushing play more at 5 on 5, become the top PK player on the team, and overall just being a complete workhorse. Many scoffed when I suggested Draisaitl would be in the running for the Rocket but he is doing just that. Draisaitl as more points against the Coyotes than any other team he has played against in his career so look for more magic tonight.
COYOTES PLAYER SPOTLIGHT - PHIL KESSEL
Surprise surprise, Kessel is not scoring at the same rate when he isn't surrounded by top end talent. Kessel only has 3 goals through the first 13 games played but has also come on more in the last few games. War Pig has a goal and 5 points through his last 5 games and continues to be one of the most dangerous threats in the league on the PP.
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3 KEYS TO VICTORY 1.) Beat Kuemper - No official word yet, but Kuemper will likely be in net for the Coyotes tonight which is a huge problem for the Oilers. Kuemper has taken the starting job from Raanta with force, posting a .942SV% through the first 9 games and averages the second best GAA in the league at 1.67. Edmonton won't beat Kuemp by posting 10 shots halfway through the 2nd period like they did against Pittsburgh.
2.) Don't Poke The Keller - I really have a problem with paying players based on what the team expects them to become. Take Clayton Keller who signed an 8 year 7.15 million dollar deal last summer. He put up 65 points as a rookie, then fell to 47 points in his sophomore season. Now Keller has only one goal through the first 13 games. Shut him down and continue to make Chayka look not nearly as smart as some people seem to think he is.
3.) Play 60 Minutes - My first time this season using this cliche. Playing a full 60 doesn't mean I expect the team to maintain possession for the entire game, but these 5-10 minute lapses the Oilers are falling into is simply too much. Last game against Pittsburgh, Matt Benning took 2 penalties immediately one after another including a delay of game where he wasn't even under pressure. Smith saved the day but that can't be a norm. Don't shoot yourselves in the foot.
FILM OF THE DAY
The Oilers Jekyll and Hyde performances have been driving me a little crazy... but not nearly as crazy as some of these guys from 12 Monkeys