First, I’ll recap a trade that happened before Monday night’s game. The Edmonton Oilers acquired prospect defenseman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for prospect defenseman Ben Gleason. It was pretty much an AHL move, but it doesn’t hurt to have another right-handed blue liner in the system. We’ll see how it turns out in the future.
I’ve said in previous articles that I wasn’t happy with how Edmonton’s previous losses. Of course, you don’t like any loss, but Monday night against New Jersey didn’t bother me as much. You can’t say the Oilers didn’t show up to play, as they had a lot of great scoring. Jake Allen just kept making big save after big save. Calvin Pickard didn’t have the same game, but it’s also hard to blame the goalie if the team in front can’t score a single goal. The Devils were just the more opportunistic team. As I alluded to in the last article, Edmonton currently has a “Win 2, lose 1” streak happening. If they keep playing like they did against the Devils, but with goals scored, and not go on a long losing streak, they’ll be fine. No team wins every single game.
Connor McDavid spoke to the media before the New Jersey game after participating in an on-ice practice. He said he was feeling good since his injury, and there’s been an indication that it might be a day-to-day scenario rather than a week-to-week scenario. I prefer McDavid doesn’t rush a return like he did last year. If his team was out of a Wild Card spot in late March, we’d understand. We’re still in November, and they’ve won two games without him. As long as they keep averaging .500 hockey before he comes back, there’s no need to force him. Until then, onto the match-up at hand. The keys to the game are…
Going Down Hill: Adin Hill has a 5-2 winning record this year, but his Save Percentage is .874, and his Goals Against Average is 3.16. It’s still pretty early, but he hasn’t been the version of himself that helped backstop his team to a Stanley Cup championship. He still must be doing something right, with the Golden Knights being 2nd place in the Pacific Division. Some struggling Oilers forwards started producing more lately, perhaps a slumping Hill could help break their slumps. Either that, or I’m making the same mistake with starting goalies I made with the last game. Whoops.
Crease Space: On the first Devils goal Monday night, Dougie Hamilton skated towards the net and stood there. He didn’t get a tip, but it was enough of a distraction for Calvin Pickard before the puck went passed him. Don’t give the opposition easy access to the goalie’s office.
Back To Stu?: If Stuart Skinner starts tonight, he’s played two good games out of his last three. Ixnay on the one bad game, he needs to continue his small but good run to avoid a second straight loss.
