Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

He scored, and got a point. Hallelujah, rejoice.

When any other hockey player goes 2 games without a point, or 7 games without a goal, it’s normal and nothing new. When this streak happens to Connor McDavid, it’s breaking news nationwide. On Tuesday night against the Bruins, he broke his goal drought on a breakaway while his team was on the powerplay. Ironically, his last goal before that was scored against the same opponents. He only scored 3 goals total in the month of December. After the Seattle game last weekend, a stat came out reading that it was the first time in McDavid’s NHL career that the Oilers won 2 straight games without him getting a point. But that might be a tad misleading because in that game, he did most of the work on a goal that he didn’t register an assist for. It’s still really impressive that Edmonton has been able to conjure wins as a collective, as there is sometimes the perception that they are a one or two-man team. While Jeff Skinner and Zach Hyman assisted on just one of Adam Henrique’s 2 goals, I loved seeing that third line contribute, and I’m excited to see that chemistry develop, should they stay together.

McDavid’s goal came after a huge save made by Stuart Skinner, stopping Pavel Zacha on a shorthanded breakaway a moment before. He stopped a shorthanded breakaway in the third period when the game was already out of reach. Skinner got taken down by Nikita Zadorov, who was driving to the net on a scoring chance in the first period. Stu had to leave the period early for concussion protocol, so Calvin Pickard also gets credit for the 4-0 shutout. It was nice of Skinner and Zadorov to talk it out and tap each other’s equipment on the ice before the second period started.

Boston has now lost 5 straight games and 6 of their last 7. Tonight’s opponent has a big slump of their own at a bad time as they’re currently in a very tight race for one of the Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference. It’s important for Edmonton, while looking better in their standings, to match the desperation. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Pregame Notes

Star Wars: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang AND Erik Karlsson will all have future spots in the Hockey Hall of Fame. And yet, you also ask yourself, how does a roster with these great players not consistently win games? The stars on the Oilers look up to the stars on the Penguins, and will have to match their desperation on the ice.

Switch ‘Em Up: Troy Stecher was taken out of the lineup against the Bruins, and Josh Brown took his place, playing his first Oilers game since November 21st. I’d think that was mostly to have someone go against the physicality and toughness in Boston. He made 4 hits, but I never thought about him, which is a compliment for a defenseman. If Brown is in again, cool. Keep showing what you might bring to the table. If Stecher draws back in, win your spot back.

Hit ‘Em Up: Not to assume this incident will happen again, but I agreed with the Sportsnet intermission panel when there wasn’t a quick enough response to Stuart Skinner laying on the ground after the collision he took. Corey Perry did fight Trent Frederic in the second period, and the Oilers did get away with the heavy disadvantage in hits simply because they can outskill any team. But don’t wait to engage. It doesn’t necessarily have to be fight, even just a hit or a bump. Stand up for your teammates right away.