Anyone watching last night's Oilers game would have sworn they were watching a different team had it not been for the names on the back of the jerseys. This Oilers team was standing players up at the blueline, taking high quality chances on net, and preventing the opposing team from nearly any real scoring opportunities.

The Woodcroft effect is real, the players have bought in and it is fun to watch Oilers hockey again. They aren't going to win every game between now and the end of the season but as long as they are playing like this they should at the very least always be in the mix.

This isn't just me saying this either; here is a snippet from Warren Foegele who scored the first goal of the game against the Sharks;

"With Woody here there is a huge amount of direction and detail and it makes a huge difference when everyone knows what we are doing."

That's a pretty damning statement against the old regime. Watching the Oilers under Tippett, the bottom six always felt like lines that were thrown out until Tippett could put McDavid or Draisaitl back on the ice. Now we are seeing four lines that each seem to have an identity and are engaged in the play.

Woodcroft has given guys with a 97 or a 29 on their backs the onus to put the game on their own shoulders. McLeod was killing penalties and looked great doing it. Niemelainen not only hits like a truck but was also make smart jumps into the play. Tyler Benson was out in the last 3 minutes of the game when the team wanted to hold the line for Skinner and he made it count. It's a night and day different from just a couple of weeks ago and the only aggravating thing is it took Holland this long to make the change. In his own words he was expecting to offer Tippett a contract extension...

Tonight the Oilers will play their second of back to back games against an LA Kings team that has not played a game since February 2nd. Winning in regulation tonight would put the Oilers tied for third place in the Pacific Division alongside LA. These kinds of must-win games have always been an Achilles heel for the Oilers where they have not looked up to the task. Turning the page on that and coming out hard with another win would just continue to show how much more dialed in the Edmonton players are.

We don't know the exact line combinations that Woodcroft will run tonight other than Mike Smith will get the start. It's been great seeing Benson get more ice time but I do wonder if WC will swap in Shore or Perlini because it is a back to back situation and he wants to bring in some fresh legs.

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