The Oil are in a mighty funk right now, so I guess it’s all going according to Chiarelli’s master plan. Connor McDavid is tied for 2nd in NHL scoring with 79 points despite carrying Lucic’s lifeless body around the ice at 30 kilometers an hour and yet the Oil are 27th in the NHL and have the worst PP in the league.
Connor McDavid is still the NHL’s leader in 5v5 offense. 52 of his 79 points come from this state. He’s 10th in the league for 5v5 shots with 162. His 5v5 goal scoring is 5th in the NHL. He has 21 goals 5v5 and Ovechkin is leading the league with just 24. I guess what I’m saying here is that Connor McDavid is pure magic still.
It’s even more incredible when you realize that you have to go all the way down to 16th in NHL scoring to find a player with as few power play points as he has. McDavid’s 15 PP points is less than half of what Malkin and Kucherov have. If the Oilers had a half-decent power play to work with then it seems McDavid would be the undisputed king of this league.
The fact that the Oiler power play is so bad that it’s even killing Connor McDavid’s production feels underreported.
Oilers on the Power Play 2015-2016 6.22 GF/60 (21st) 2016-2017 8.22 GF/60 (6th) 2017-2018 4.90 GF/60 (31st)
McDavid on the Power Play 2015-2016 6.34 P/60 2016-2017 6.50 P/60 2017-2018 4.84 P/60
It’s almost admirable that the Oiler Power Play dropped in goals for by 40% this year but McDavid’s own production only dropped by about 25%. Between the efficiency dropping and the fact that the Oilers are dead last in Power Play opportunities, the man-advantage is in shambles. This team cant draw a penalty to save its life and then when it does they throw up all over themselves.
Case in point, that embarrassing Too Many Men penalty at the end of the Rangers game which brought shame to an entire city. If Doug Maclean is making salient points about how brutal your coaching staff is for allowing that rally killing mishap, then you’ve got problems. It is unfathomable how the Oilers can continually shoot themselves in the foot with the special teams.
I would like to believe that the Oilers are trying and have been trying to fix the Power Play, but there have been no systemic changes that anyone can spot. There have been no personnel changes that weren’t forced by management trading players away. I think it’s fair to question what the staff is doing to fix this mess. Milan Lucic remains out there despite not scoring in months. McDavid and Draisaitl are in their same positions. It’s a static perimeter and teams are happy to let the Oilers play with the puck at the edges all they want.
If somehow McDavid can win the scoring race while carrying this anchor of a power play around, he’s just not human.
LINEUP Adam Larsson was at the morning skate today but he wont play. Bear stays in.
Lucic McDavid Draisaitl Cammalleri RNH Aberg Puljujarvi Strome Slepyshev Pakarinen Khaira Kassian
Klefbom Benning Nurse Russell Sekera Bear
Talbot OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Coyotes Pushing. Hey, so here’s an unexpected wrinkle in tonight’s match against the 31st placed Coyotes: They have the 3rd best record in the West over the last 10 games. It’s Nashville, then Winnipeg, then Arizona at 7-2-1. The Oilers are 4-6-0 in their last 10 and in the midst of a 3 game losing streak, but the Yotes are cruising. This is no “Guaranteed Win Night… and frankly there are none when you’re as flaky as the Oilers.
2) Stop The First One. Part of the wild and crazy season we are having in which we are witnessing the worst Home PK in NHL history, we are also witnessing a bizarre year for early goals against. I don’t know if this is an NHL record, and maybe it isn’t, but the Oilers have allowed the 1st shot on net to get behind the netminder in 13 of their 65 games. That’s 20% of their season. 1 every 5 games, the opposition scores on the first shot. How does that even happen? The team is taking it on the chin for “not starting on time… and it’s hard to argue against it. This is the weirdest season.
3) Bear With Me. Ethan Bear’s 2nd game was better than his 1st and tonight he’ll get a 3rd in. We don’t know what happens to Bear afterwards, because Larsson will be readyto go for Thursday. All we can say is that he will have played against one of the best teams (New York), a middle of the pack team (Rangers), and a poor team (Arizona). The coach has noted that he’s leaned down a bit over the AHL season and he’s moving better. I think if he has a strong game tonight then we might see more of his signature offense. He could play another season or part of it in the AHL next year, but now that he’s had a taste of the NHL, something tells me he shows up to Camp in the fall ready to push.
Puck drops tonight at 7PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet Oilers. Tank On!
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