The Oilers are concluding another two day break in which I thought they might have gotten some help in net but did not. It’s still Brossoit back there because…reasons.
We come back to the issue of goaltending constantly because it is one of the largest contributing factors to Edmonton’s struggles this season. It’s a backbreaker knowing that you’re already down a bad goal before the game even starts. Brossoit’s .877 save percentage is killing whatever shred of hope fans had of starting this miracle run needed to save the season.
Another major problem that the Oilers have working against them is their proclivity for taking penalties. Edmonton is 4th in PIMs per game with 11:04 and 4th worst in penalty differential at -20 so far this season. Drawing penalties is a product of some acting mixed with style of play. Certain players combine both aspects to draw more penalties than they take. Take Matthew Tkachuk (and hit him in the numbers). He plays a hard game that forces defenders to get physical AND he knows how to play the refs.
Part of the problem for the Oilers in getting penalties called their way is that the GM shipped out two of the team’s best penalty drawing forwards. Eberle was 2nd on the team in penalties drawn with 17 and Pouliot was 5th with 12. This season the Oilers have an issue drawing penalties from regular players. Anton Slepyshev and Kailer Yamamoto are in Edmonton’s top 5 for penalties drawn despite the fact that Yamamoto hasn’t been on the team in over a month and Slepyshev has only appeared in 13 games.
The Oilers committed to the “Bigification… of their lineup with Gryba, Kassian, Lucic, and Maroon. These are Chiarelli’s biggest additions to the lineup in both prominence and mass. They are also ranked 20-23 on the Oilers in penalty differential with -5, -6, -7, and -7 respectively. That’s a combined -25 in penalty differential for Chiarelli’s featured additions through only 28 games. Neat.
When you combine the penalty taking with the substandard goaltending you put the Penalty Kill in a bad position. That’s before you even get to the major problems with the fundamentals of the PK. The Oilers are down some of its best penalty killers from last year (Pouliot and Lander) but the real problem is that they’ve adopted a bizarre formation. Call it “stacked… or the “L… but it features the forwards lineup up through the middle of the ice with the defenders at either side of the net.
This formation puts very little pressure on either board and creates a cross seam option that only needs to beat one player to create an incredibly dangerous scoring chance. It is unlike anything I’ve ever seen and I fail to understand why the Oilers use it. If you give teams lots of opportunities to discover its glaring weaknesses AND put a substandard goalie in net then the PK is going to get abused like it has all year.
LINEUP
The Oilers practiced with Strome as the extra skater the other day, but it’s unclear whether the coach was sending a message or prepping for his actual plan until this morning. It looks like Strome is IN the lineup.
Lucic McDavid Puljujarvi Maroon RNH Cammalleri Walker Draisaitl Strome Khaira Letestu Kassian
Klefbom Benning Nurse Russell Davidson Gryba
Brossoit
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Davy’s Back. Brandon Davidson is getting his first back as an Oiler against his former club, the Montreal Canadiens. If we’ve learned anything it’s that he’s been nothing but thrilled to be an Oiler again. He’s smiling in every interview, every picture that has come out since he arrived here. Every player would say they’re excited to be an Oiler, but there’s something genuine about the way he talks about being an Oiler. He should be playing on pure adrenaline today. If he can find a way to leave the brutal PDO behind him then the young defender has potential.
2) PK Blues. The Oilers aren’t the only team with a garbage penalty kill. The Habs have a 78.78 PK percentage. These clubs are not getting the job done when down a man. Edmonton’s formation is doing a bang up job limiting shot attempts and unblocked attempts. They have the LOWEST attempts against per 60 minutes in the NHL. That sounds good! However, they are 13th against in Scoring Chances against per 60. Under normal conditions we would expect the attempts and chances to be much more closesly linked. This comes back to that bizarre formation that appears to allow Grade A chances at an accelerated rate.
3) Message Sent. Ryan Strome was the extra man in practice on the 3rd line in practice yesterday. It was an eyebrow raiser for fans and media alike. If the Oilers want to keep running their 3 feature centers down the middle then they need wingers on every line to produce. By the time you get to the 3rd line, you have second year player Drake Caggiula (one of the worst offensive players on the team) and the veteran Strome. Edmonton needs this player to contribute more than he has thus far, even if it is unfair to expect more from him. Strome is on pace for 32 points, which would be his highest total in 3 season and 2nd highest of his career.
Puck drops tonight at 5PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet. Game On!
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