Edmonton blew the lead three times against the Rangers and having the least experienced defensive pairing out with less than 2 minutes in the game proved to cement Edmonton’s disaster in New York. It wasn’t just about luck though, the Rangers had control of the shot attempt share all game and by the end the Oilers just couldn’t hold on.
It’s no surprise after this three game losing streak that the Oilers are trying new combinations up front. Beyond the goal-scoring slumps that some of Edmonton’s best players were experiencing, the lines in general had slowed in their general effectiveness.
Given the struggle that the 2nd and 3rd lines have had filling the net, it makes sense to start spreading the wealth of talent around in search of a spark. Jordan Eberle remains with Connor McDavid because of course he does, but now Maroon returns to where he had the most success as an Oiler, Puljujarvi gets a promotion to the Nuge line, and Lucic gets paired with Draisaitl. I’m hopeful for all of the new trios and generally like what it does.
Maroon plays an extremely simple game and has enough skill in his hands to capitalize on the chances that McDavid creates. He was a point per game player while on the McDavid line a year ago. They outscored opponents with a GF% over 70%! It was a small sample size, but at this point even if it’s a shallow well the team needs to go back to it.
Puljujarvi has been asserting himself much better over the last several games, including an interesting (if unorthodox) 2 on 1 that resulted in a Maroon goal versus the Rangers. With Nugent-Hopkins and Pouliot also looking better than their rough start, it makes sense to try to boost their scoring by adding a volume shooter. I don’t know how quickly the rookie right winger gets up to full speed, but he’s already much further ahead than his first 5 games or so.
The concern about Lucic on McDavid’s line was the speed matchup. Draisaitl is capable of playing with speed, but I think he prefers a positional game. This will hopefully match even better with Lucic. The big free agent acquisition has not been poor with his new club. In fact, I don’t think he was the one sabotaging the 1st line in any way. However, in an effort to spread the scoring it makes sense to move him with someone who has been struggling.
The 4th line stays the same. I have massive concerns about the long term viability of the Lander-Letestu-Pitlick trio since Letestu is currently sporting a shot attempt percentage of just 38.1%. It’s ugly and suggests over time the percentages will normalize and Edmonton will get pumped with these guys on the ice. No Bueno.
The team is on the verge of undoing all the good things it did in October. The line changes, if we’re lucky, will spark a change in direction for the club. Edmonton needs to find ways to sustain long term success with this group of players.
LINEUP
Practice yesterday featured change to all the forward lines and defensive pairings. There was word that the defense would stay the same as the last game but with Gryba on the 3rd pair anyway. However this morning we heard that Russell was injured.
Maroon McDavid Eberle Pouliot RNH Puljujarvi Lucic Draisaitl Kassian Lander Letestu Pitlick
Klefbom Larsson Sekera Gryba Nurse Benning
Talbot Gustavsson
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Don’t Drink The Water. The ice for the New York Islanders is apparently worse than the ice in Hepatitis Vaccine commercials. There are reports that the ice plant and supporting hardware don’t even meet minimum NHL requirements (whoops). This poses a problem for an Oilers team that is built around McDavid’s speed. If the ice is too poor to handle the puck at high speeds then it benefits whoever is trying to defend McDavid. Perhaps this benefits the Lucic/Draisaitl line a little more, but if conditions remain poor then this game will go to the trenches and a lot of skill will be neutralized.
2) Elite Center. The people of Brooklyn will finally get a chance to see an elite center play hockey when Connor McDavid steps on the ice tonight. They’ve had a pretty good one in Tavares for quite some time, but nothing like this. Now they can really see something special.* The Tavares led Islanders are struggling right now. There isnt a single skater above 50% in shot attempt percentage on the team. At least not one that’s played more than 25 minutes. The team is having trouble scoring but even more trouble preventing goals. They’ve given up the 3rd most goals in the Eastern conference and have the 2nd worst goal differential. This is a struggling team and Edmonton needs to find a way to beat clubs in this position if they ever want to develop into a legitimate playoff contender.
* ;)
3) Benning Bobbles. I would suggest that Matt Benning played a poor game despite having some skills that might make him a quality option for the Oilers moving forward. He’s an older rookie professional, but he can skate and should be able to move the puck. He looked like he was nervous playing in Madison Square Gardens. He gets a chance to redeem himself after blowing things in the final two minutes. Under normal circumstances I would have expected him to be watching from the pressbox. With Russell injured he’ll be playing. The Nurse-Benning pairing should in theory be a very mobile duo that can help Edmonton get the puck out of their own zone. That’s going to depend on how well the inexperienced defenders can retrieve pucks.
Puck drops tonight at 5PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet. Game On! Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy