This was almost a mopey article, but it doesn’t have to be.
The Oilers didn’t play a bad game against the Blackhawks on Saturday night, but it was a bad win by their standards. I’m not giving up on Calvin Pickard being the backup, as I also defended Stuart Skinner in the last article. But I admit he still had a below-average game. you look at him now having a 7-2 record on the road; that’s barely enough to forget he was the second-best goalie on the ice, and against someone who’s currently sporting the second-worst wins percentage in NHL history, as pointed out by Jack Michaels on the broadcast. Arvid Soderblom won’t be happy with the loss, nor should he be. But a lot of Oilers fans on social media would’ve felt more comfortable with him in net while the game was being played.
Coming back to win after being down 2-0 and 3-1 is always a good character feeling, as they failed to come back in Pittsburgh. It just shouldn’t feel like a challenge against the 32nd-place team. Feeling happy for Jeff Skinner supposedly finding his game again with better linemates was short-lived. He was a healthy scratch for the second time this season, Derek Ryan, who appears to’ve had Father Time catch up him, took his place in the lineup. If he can’t even get more ice time with Evander Kane not playing, imagine how much more popcorn he’ll be eating when Kane does play again.
The Oil are back in Edmonton for one night, and then have another road trip for three games. It was nice to end that trip with a 3-1 record, even if I didn’t like their last outing. The Kings are continuing a Western Canadian road trip. Their last home game was supposed to be last week on Wednesday, but it was postponed due to the current wildfire crisis in Los Angeles. My condolences to L.A. citizens affected by that tragedy. The keys to the game are…
Edmonton Oilers Thoughts
Fatigue: As I mentioned, our team is back at Rogers Place. With the last four games played on the road, and three road games after this home game, it’s a lot of time having to adjust to multiple time zones in a whole week. Will they start the game noticeably tired?
Even Ground: According to a chart from JFresh on Twitter, the Kings are ranked 1st in 5v5 Expected Goals Against Per/60 and the Oilers are ranked 9th. Don’t expect a game like this to be decided on penalties.
Mc-Birthday: In 3 NHL games played on his birthday, Connor McDavid has tallied 6 points. He has the third highest point totals before the age of 28 behind Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. I can’t speak for him, but a slightly bigger point cushion in the division standings would make for a nice present. Happy 28th, Captain.
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