The hockey gords are shining their lights on the Edmonton Oilers as they head into this three-game road trip that’ll see them play the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, and the New York Islanders. You’re probably wondering to yourself how playing those teams could be an advantage to Edmonton, so let me tell you briefly.
- Pittsburgh will most likely be without Evgeni Malkin after he tried to decapitate Michael Raffl last night. They are also 4-5-1 in their last 10 and have a defense that is not intimidating anybody. Stay out of the box though, PIT has the 6th best PP in the league right now (EDM has the 8th best).
Evgeni Malkin on the potential of being suspended: “It’s not like I broke his face”
Well you sure dam tried pic.twitter.com/ByehVfc1xe
— Niko From the T.O.🏒 (@NikoFromTheTO) February 12, 2019
- The Islanders are a team I expect Edmonton to line-up very well against actually. Not a lot of superstardom on New York, just a lot of hard-working players. This is a system I could see getting take advantage of by Edmonton’s big names as I believe the rest of the roster can run with the Isles IF they can find a way to play the style of game Hitch is teaching.
- The Hurricanes are surging right now but their goaltending is a major weakness and something I could see them really exploit. The might want to consider splitting up Draisaitl and Connor for this one though. IIRC, the ‘Canes like to have Jaccob Slavin out against McDavid as much as possible. It might even behoove them to go 97-29-93 against the Canes and try to dominate 5×5. I also expect Puljujarvi to have a good game as he’ll be playing one of his BFFs (Sebastian Aho)
The One Thing
I have a belief that successful teams have something (or multiple somethings) that their oppositions loathe coming up against. Be that strong 5×5 scoring, a deadly PP, a stifling PK, unbeatable goaltending, or a punishing brand of physical hockey.
In the past, we might’ve said that for the Oilers it was simply having Connor McDavid in the lineup that would scare the other team but I don’t feel like that’s the case anymore. I think teams with mobile defenses find a way to minimize his effectiveness a bit easier now than they did before. So you shut down him and you basically shut down the team, right?
At this moment in time, the Oilers big threat is their PP. It’s 8th in the NHL right now but that’s not enough for a team that appears thin. I think there’s still part of this team that can intimidate physically but for whatever reason, refuses to engage in games like that. Sure there are a lot of hits (officially) but none that are the kind that really rattle the other teams.
After the bye week/all-star break, the Oilers were playing so well for portions of the games vs. Philly, the Habs, as well as the Wild. They had the hunger back but minor breakdowns lost them those matches and I think every time that happens the players that are still on the team from the blown lead vs. Anaheim in the 2016 playoffs get flashbacks and they fold.
So for this team to get back into the post-season, they need to get on a run and bring something to the ice that scares the shit out of the other team. That could be McDavid going supernova. That could be Koskinen/Talbot getting hot. Maybe something as simple as running the tables on the faceoff dot or outshooting their opponents (for once).
Their coach is grinding on them and they’ve got to use that emotion that’s building up inside of them from his coaching style and take it out on the other team. He’s got a plan for them and they’ve got to execute it. All they’re required to do is eat some humble pie and get it done for 30 games.
If they can do that and go 3-0-0 on this road trip and then take 2/3 on their next homestand, they’ll make it in. Is that a realistic scenario… Probably a bit of a reach. But I’ve got faith in the boys that they’ll get their heads out of their asses here at some point.
Why Can’t They Win At Home?
I have a theory that the Oilers get rattled easily while playing at home this season. The crowd, the size of the market, the media… The fishbowl.
It’s a lot to take in for a professional hockey player. I don’t believe that they’re not interested in winning and have checked out for the year. I think they’re going the other way to be honest. The players are over-analyzing everything whilst playing in Edmonton. They grip the sticks too hard and when they go down a goal, they go down for the count.
I don’t think letting in the first shot of the game has helped as much as it’s happened either. But, can you imagine how hard it is to play at Rogers Place? If you make a mistake, Hitchcock is all over your ass. If you blow a PP, the crowd is all over your ass. If you lose the game, the media is all over your ass. And it’s not just the local media anymore, the national media is getting hold of this debacle too.
If a roster the likes of Vancouver’s and Minnesota’s can be this close to a playoff spot (or in one), there’s no reason the Oilers can’t make it in.
Will There Be A Deal This Week?
Bob Stauffer let it be known on yesterday’s edition of Oilers Now that Mark Spector would be joining the Oilers on the road. Not often he does that, so I’m expecting the Oilers to make a move or two in order to get Andrej Sekera back into the fold. Spec has to be there to cover it.
I can’t be sure as to who might heading out but it wouldn’t shock me if one or more of the players in this group weren’t an Oiler next week, Alex Petrovic, Matt Benning, Zack Kassian, Tobias Rieder, and Kyle Brodziak.
I feel like after all the deals are done, we’ll see an influx of players come up from Bakersfield. William Lagesson, Caleb Jones, Patrick Russell, Cooper Marody, and maybe even Tyler Benson are candidates to join the team due to their stellar play this season. I’d add Shane Starrett to that group as well depending on what happens with Cam Talbot (or Mikko Koskinen…).
Bringing Seksy Back
I watched Sekera play in their latest match-up vs. San Diego and he most definitely was in beast mode. But I want to caution you. Don’t get too excited. He’s playing AHL quality opponents, so he’s going to look better by default. I’d also attribute that to a bit of adrenaline going through his system as he has to he feeling so happy to be playing again. That will wear off and when it does, how will he look then? Even with that adrenaline bump, he doesn’t look faster than his AHL opponents and that’s concerning to me.
When Rej gets back to playing for the Oilers, he’d better be paired with someone that can skate (Caleb Jones?) or else he’s not going to be of much help (on the ice) I fear.
