Last game was the first in 222 games that the Oilers were without Connor McDavid. While not as impressive as some players iron man streaks it was strange to not see #97 out on the ice. Overall the rest of the team held together fairly well in the 4-1 loss to the Stars but it only helped enforce the fact that the Oilers without Connor McDavid are not a playoff team.
Now that we are over a quarter of the way through the 2018/2019 season we can start to look at some numbers and see patterns emerging that won't suddenly change with one strong or weak game. The Oilers are 28th in EV scoring with 50 goals on the season, with Boston, LA and Arizona as the only teams that are worse. The Pasternak-Bergeron-Marchand line was heralded as one of the best early in the season and though injuries have hampered them, like Edmonton, they have nothing after their top line.
The Oilers have only 5 players on their roster who have scored 5 or more goals this season they join the Blackhawks, Canucks, Ducks, and Blues in that regard. Secondary scoring continues to be a massive issue for this team and while it is nice to have players like Chiasson and Caggiula making the most of their time this team does not have enough proven scoring talent.
It is going to be a battle up to the end of the season and the Oilers need Connor McDavid through the remaining 55 games if they stand a chance. LINEUP
OILERS
Chiasson-McDavid-Draisaitl Khaira-RNH-Puljujarvi Lucic-Brodziak-Kassian Russell-Spooner-Rattie
Klefbom-Larsson Nurse-Russell Gravel-Benning
Talbot
- I would not put the last game on Koskinen for the loss but Talbot needs to get some games in and the coach needs to see where he is at. Caggiula has some type of hand injury so Khaira gets the bump to the second line.
BLUES (via DailyFaceoff)
Sanford-O'Reilly-Thomas Perron-Scheen-Kyrou Maroon-Bozak-Taresenko Nolan-Barbashev-Sunqvist
Edmundson-Parayko Dunn-Bortuzzo Bouwmeester-Butler
Allen 4 KEYS TO VICTORY
1) Score More Than Them. Brilliant analysis I know. The Blues like the Oilers, only have 5 players who have scored five or more goals. Recently the Blues have split up their best players over three lines to try and get other players going, and Edmonton can take advantage of some watered down lines. 2) Nurse's Turn. Darnell Nurse has been nearly invisible over the past few weeks. He hasn't made any egregious errors, which is good, but he has lacked the edge which has made him look so good. Klefbom has scored a few timely goals in recent games, and while some goals from Nurse would be nice I would settle for seeing him carry the puck more.
3) Caring about Khaira. Jujhar seems like a nice guy, even though I have never met him before. Over the past couple of games, Khaira has played with the edge that made him one of the few highlights of last season, but he lacks the consistency to bring that to every game. With Caggiula out to injury, Khaira has a chance to show his new coach that he can produce at more than a fourth line pace.
4) Really O'Reilly Is That Good. Tarasenko is still a fantastic player but it is Ryan O'Reilly that is deserving of attention this season. O'Reilly has 12 goals on the season, with only two of them coming on the powerplay. It will be up to Klefbom and Larsson to shut him down, but being on the road it is likely that Gravel and Benning will get matched up against him. Benning has played better lately and Gravel continues to come as advertised. The best that pair can ask for is to have an uneventful night.
FILM OF THE DAY.
Blues Brothers. Duh.