Welcome to The Week In Review According To Me (TWIRATOME), a regular Monday feature breaking down the week that was for the Edmonton Oilers. Most weeks might take on the feel of autopsy, sifting through symptoms and clues to determine the cause of disaster, but all are worthy of examination before moving forward.
What Happened?
The Oilers opened their season at home against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. While Edmonton rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to even the score in the second period, Calgary pulled away in the final frame en route to a 5-2 victory. Looking to rebound, the Oilers visited the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Edmonton had 2-0, 3-1, and 4-2 leads, but a rash of penalties allowed Vancouver to claw its way back into the game, tying the score in the third period before winning in a shootout, 5-4.
Standings Snapshot
Sitting squarely in the Pacific Division basement, giving up a division-high 4.5 goals per game (nobody knows why the NHL includes shootout goals in GA), the Oilers are well on their way to irrelevancy. It wasn’t the worst possible start to the season but it’s awfully close, losing two winnable games against division rivals that pundits haven’t picked to make the playoffs. The Oilers need to find their legs. Particularly in the third period, which saw them horribly outplayed both nights and outscored, 4-0.
Best Reason to Freak Out
Bogdan Yakimov became the season's first call-up on Monday, while Oscar Klefbom was sent back to Oklahoma City. That wouldn't be such huge news in itself, but Purcell, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn't participate in practice Monday. All three are listed as day-to-day but expected to play Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings. What's going on? Why Yakimov? Isn't Will Acton a centre? Is the entire season lost? I don't know, because he's a big center, yes, probably.
Week’s Worst Moment
Calgary left winger Raymond Mason converted a cross-crease pass to complete a hat trick with less than six minutes remaining, giving the Flames a 4-2 lead and sending folks at Rexall Place streaming for the exits. Want the terrible backstory? Raymond, an unrestricted free agent coming off a 19-goal, 45-point season, signed a three-year, $9.45 million deal with the Flames on July 1. Benoit Pouliot, a UFA left winger coming off a 15-goal, 36-point season, signed a five-year, $20 million deal with the Oilers on July 1.
Week’s Best Moment
Jesse Joensuu scored on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the second period against the Canucks, pushing the Oilers’ lead to 4-2 and giving the club some much-needed breathing room as Vancouver was pouring on the pressure. It was the best of all worlds: extending the lead on the road, killing Vancouver’s momentum (temporarily), and coming from a completely unexpected source. The lumbering 6-foot-4 winger isn’t known for breakaway speed or soft hands, but showed them on that play.
Special Teams Report
PP: 3/6 – 50% PK: 6/9 – 66%
Despite all their flaws, the Oiler currently have the highest-ranked power play in the NHL, converting on three of their six opportunities in the early season. Credit Teddy Purcell, who scored the Oilers’ first goal of the season on the man advantage and set up the first NHL tally of Brad Hunt’s career. Unfortunately, Edmonton has also allowed three power play goals, snuffing out only six of nine trips to the sin bin. Hurt by a mediocre defence, the PK has to improve if the good guys hope to make up any ground in the standings.
Completely Useless Advanced Stat
5v5 SF/60 – 36.1 5v5 SA/60 – 29.9
Whoa, that’s a difference of 6.2 shots per game, which should indicate the Oilers dominate opponents 5-on-5. Of course, that number is based on a small sample size, completely unsustainable, and can be attributed to the fact the Calgary Flames went into a defensive shell after taking an early 2-0 lead on Thursday. Maybe the Oilers should have done the same Saturday, pulling back and playing it safe against the Canucks. Either way, this stat is completely useless, because advanced stats don’t take context into account.
Simple Stats
Goaltending Glance
LVP of the Week
It’s hard to imagine any Oilers player having as bad a week as Jordan Eberle. He didn’t have a point, despite playing on the team’s first line and top power play unit. He’s tied for the team lead in minors (2) and both were extremely lazy. Eberle has looked slow, tired, and uninterested through the first two games. Those sins wouldn’t be so egregious if his ice-time reflected his poor performance, but he’s averaging more than 19 minutes a game, while Nail Yakupov is pulling down less than 12. That’s a mistake.
MVP of the Week
Expect Purcell to be a mainstay here if he keeps putting other forwards to shame with his puck pursuit and on-ice vision. He produced the Oilers’ only spoon-fed goal of the week, finding Mark Arcobello for a tally that even Luke Gazdic could have tapped into the yawning cage. Playing with Arcobello and David Perron, the trio stood out as the team’s best line in the first two games, and most of that praise is thanks to Purcell knowing what to do when the puck finds his stick. Here’s hoping he rubs off on some of his teammates.
Looking Ahead
There are three games on the docket this week. The Oilers swing down to Southern California, facing the Kings on Tuesday, then shift over to the desert to take on the Arizona Coyotes the following night. Neither game looks winnable, particularly with the Coyotes coming on the second leg of the back-to-back. The Oilers are back at Rexall Place on Friday night for another date with the Canucks. A win in any of those games would go a long way to easing Oiler fans’ dismay, because things will get awfully ugly without one.
ryan.garner@hockeybuzz.com