I want to time travel to last week so we can cheer for Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Brayden Point again.
That first period on Tuesday was the best one I’d seen the Oilers play in quite a while. Letting in a tying goal wasn’t ideal, but I didn’t worry about how the rest of the game would turn out. Then the second period happened, and we were just watching broken records on the ice. The tying goal came off a neutral zone turnover. On the second goal, Evan Bouchard doesn’t show nearly enough urgency to cover Hagel, who has all the time in the world to take the wraparound route, while Stuart Skinner had the lateral movement of a snail. The third goal was bad luck when a point shot on the powerplay went off a block attempt from Mattias Janmark, putting a damper on his “in the lineup for the penalty kill” argument. The fourth and last goal was a nifty play, I can’t be too picky about that. And speaking of goals, why was Jeff Skinner a healthy scratch after scoring in the previous game? So much for a changed Skinner.
Kris Knoblauch said after the game that they’re “a fragile group right now”. That’s a pretty weird thing to say with one week left before the Trade Deadline, but it’s not false. A combination of bad turnovers, bad team defense, and bad goals allowed deflate the whole bench, game in and game out. A part of me wonders if some of Edmonton’s players are just too anxious about Deadline Day. I remember Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, and Cody Ceci having those same feelings last season. The aforementioned Bouchard and Skinner have been polarizing players among fans and media. There has been no indication of Bouchard getting traded, but the smoke around the team’s goaltending has been expanding. Oilers goalie alumnus Dwayne Roloson spoke with Gene Principe before the start of the second period, trying to defend Stu and give him props. Clearly, that didn’t help. Viktor Arvidsson can be seen in the highlight of the second Lightning goal bringing his arms up in an Are you kidding me? type of motion. Even when they had trouble with starts before, they wouldn’t give up. They still looked comfortable attempting comebacks and sometimes succeeded. But now even that mojo is gone. Maybe they’re finally tired of that habit, it took them long enough. I’d say being the oldest roster in the league and coming off a longer Playoff run last year finally caught up to them. But a two-week break was more than enough time for more than half the roster to get reenergized and focused again.
Stan Bowman has defended Bouchard and Skinner publicly. Then again, no GM will ever show their hand before the Trade Deadline is over. He brought Travis Dermott back from waivers. That may’ve been more of an AHL assignment move rather than an NHL roster move. Dermott won’t be a difference-maker on the ice. But given his connection with some of the Oilers players and the coach, perhaps that comradery will make a mental difference for the team. It’s not enough, though. Bowman is waiting to hear if Evander Kane will be back for the remainder of the regular season. If not, that’s good LTIR money to experiment with, if spent wisely. If not, is this team able to make a big enough move? For now, let’s just get the rest of this road trip over with. The keys to the game are…
Edmonton Oilers Thoughts
Rough Memories: Hockey media made a bigger deal about the last meeting between the Oilers and Panthers being a Cup Finals rematch. I didn’t think much of it, but am thinking a lot about this one. Edmonton didn’t lose the Stanley Cup in their rink, they lost it in the one they’ll be playing in tonight. There’s footage of the Oilers locker room while the Cup is being presented. The silence and heartbreak after coming back 3-0 down in the series, only to lose the last scheduled game by 1 goal. That haunts a team forever, if they don’t finally have their championship moment. The Oil need a game that’ll help motivate them, and perhaps it can be this one.
Matt-Less?: Matthew Tkachuk has yet to play for Florida since the 4 Nations Face-Off. He apparently had some sort of injury, but it wasn’t too serious. The TSN website lists him as active. If he is playing tonight, be prepared for him to try being a nuisance to a team that can’t find it’s rhythm at the moment.
Be Selfish: I noted Edmonton’s issues for the keys portion of the article. What I didn’t mention was the chances to shoot on target that they pass up. Leon Draisaitl, in particular, is trying too hard to help Matthew Savoie get his first NHL goal. That’s very nice of him, but just think about winning the game. I’m sure that’s also what the minor Savoie wants. If a chance for a perfect setup is there, great. If it’s not, don’t force one to come about. Leon, you’re the league leader in goals for a reason. Don’t feel guilty about being a puck-hog.
ITR 43: It's Winning Time – Inside The Rink
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