The Oilers opened the season to a disastrous 0-4 record. This is not an ideal scenario but what makes it worse is that they were in 3 of the 4 games. They had a chance to get points but dropped the ball.
This start is one of the most difficult that the Edmonton has had in recent years, from a quality of competition viewpoint. Last year the Blues and Predators were the 4th and 6th ranked teams in the NHL. The most painful part is that Edmonton played those two teams the best and it was against Dallas that they looked overwhelmed.
I mentioned it before the last game, but the Power Play is letting the Oilers down significantly. The club scored on their very first PP in game one and they have been completely shut out since then. Going 0-5 against the Blues at home killed their chances of winning that game. There’s no way around it.
I think they started to look just a little bit better in the later half of the game, however it ultimately didn’t amount to anything. How bad has the Oiler PP been? Well obviously from an efficiency perspective they are near the bottom of the NHL, currently ranked 25. But that isn’t because they’ve had a few bad bounces. The Oilers do not compare well to the other teams in the underlying metrics either.
In Shots per 60 minutes on the PP the Oilers are generating just 41.5/60 minutes which ranks 24th. It’s early yet but a year ago they averaged 51.5/60 minutes.
In Corsi For per 60 minutes on the PP the Oilers are generating just 73.7/60 minutes which ranks 29th. Last year they averaged 99.5/60 minutes.
They just aren’t nearly as good as they were even a year ago at creating shots on net nor at even generating shot attempts. In short, the PP has been horrendous.
That’s why the PP lines have been scrambled, as per Reid Wilkins on Twitter yesterday.
Unit 1 is now: Hall, RNH, Lander, Purcell, Schultz
Unit 2 is now: Pouliot, McDavid, Yakupov, Sekera, Letestu
These changes intrigue me because I have been waiting for McDavid and Yak to get paired together on the man-advantage almost as much as I’ve been waiting for McDavid to be taken away from a unit with Hall & RNH.
It’s not that McDavid isn’t talented enough to be on the top unit, he obviously is. The problem is that McDavid has either been too respectful or not involved enough with that unit. He simply doesn’t handle the puck enough with that other group on the ice with him. Maybe that’s just him deferring to the veterans out of respect, maybe it’s just that those other players need to carry the puck too and there’s only 1 on the ice at a time.
Split up from that top unit it leaves McDavid to be the natural puck carrier and both Yakupov and Pouliot are available to forecheck and be available for the eventual passes coming their way from Connor. That said, McDavid had 2 glorious chances to shoot from the slot against the Blues and he passed up on them. If he watched the game footage of that he’ll see that can’t happen again.
LINEUP
We’re expecting virtually the same lineup as the last game. It is possible that McLellan continues his rotation of players through the 3rd pairing.
Hall RNH Hendricks Pouliot McDavid Yak Korpikoski Lander Purcell Gazdic Letestu Klinkhammer
Klefbom Schultz Sekera Fayne Reinhart Gryba
Talbot
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Battle Of Alberta. The Flames swept the season series a year ago. Edmonton managed to take one point from Calgary last year. That’s it. 0-4 is embarrassing enough. Letting the Flames swirlee the Oilers yet again is just too much of an indignity, is it not? There’s a long standing feeling in Edmonton that the Oilers have to start Winning against the Flames before they can hope to compete for the Playoffs. It seems arbitrary and the truth at the same time.
2) McDavid on the PP. Brand new Special Teams units should put McDavid in a feature role on the 2nd unit. He needs to stop deferring to others and make it his show. His speed and puck handling was being wasted on Unit 1. Eventually that will be where he settles, but for now he can establish himself on Unit 2 with Yak as trigger man.
3) Back To Back. This is Game 2 of a back to back for the Flames. They played to a loss against the Jets yesterday and the Oilers should be trying everything in their power to take advantage of any fatigue present in the Flames. It’s still early in the season, though, so I’m not sure the tank has exactly been emptied. Edmonton has speed and they aren’t a small club anymore. Opportunities should present themselves, if the Oilers don’t fall all over themselves.
Puck drops tonight at 8 PM Mountain Time on CBC. Game On!
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