I was out of the house on Thursday, so I didn’t watch that loss in real time. That’s a positive, right?
After the final horn sounded off, there was a shot of Leon Draisaitl slamming the bench door angrily on his way back to the visiting locker room. I’m surprised he still had enough strength to do that with all the back pain he feels from carrying this team. The Oilers have lost five games in a row for the first time since the 2021/2022 season, one of them being the game at home just before the 4 Nations break. In this road trip, they’ve been outscored 21-10. Then, if you include the aforementioned home game, it’s 26-14. I’m not a mathematician, but that sounds bad. It might not really say much because they still lost, but that was the closest Edmonton has come to winning a game since coming back. Stuart Skinner looked like he’d finally get some love back from Oilers fans until the last half of the third period. The third Florida goal had no screen, no deflection, his teammates had an unsuccessful pinch that was followed by a bad line change, and the Panthers had space where there shouldn’t have been any, as Kris Knoblauch put it. The fourth Florida was a combination of Stu and Mattias Ekholm. I never thought I’d say anything negative about Ekholm, but he didn’t look great on Carter Verhaeghe’s second goal.
It was weird seeing and hearing different vibes between players and coach during post-game interviews. Skinner said he feels great mentally and is always happy to be in the lineup. I don’t say this losing streak is 100% on him, but that doesn’t sound like a goalie whose pissed about the losing streak and allowing backbreaking goals. Brett Kulak liked the way his team played, but Knoblauch said there was a few passengers. Daryl Katz is apparently phoning Stan Bowman and Jeff Jackson daily regarding these loses. Does that raise the urgency to have a busier Trade Deadline. Darnell Nurse has been listed as day-to-day; he didn’t play last night. Should management then look at adding another defenseman in case of further injuries?
A lot can and did change in a span of just one week. The Oilers were challenging for 1st in their division. Now they’re challenging to not lose home ice advantage in Round 1. This slump wouldn’t be as bad if they got OT points 3 of those 5 games. I don’t think we should worry that they may miss the Playoffs entirely. But if they continue falling and then become a Wild Card team, would you be happy with playing Winnipeg in the first round? Given how they’re currently playing. This is the opposite of what we normally see every season, bad first half and good second half. I hope they don’t want to switch that to good first half and bad second half. Let’s just try to end the road trip from Hockey Hell on a more uplifting note. The keys to the game are…
Game Notes:
Learn From Last Time: I mentioned in the last game preview the Oilers going into the building where they lost the Stanley Cup. We all remember what the regular season was like before that. An ugly loss against Carolina in Raleigh, while they were still a bottom 3 team in the league and after they had their coaching change, this was scene as the turning point in their season. With the funk they’re feeling right now, perhaps a big win here would inspire better play next week.
Oh Captain, my Captain: Since his Team Canada heroics last week, Connor McDavid has just 3 assists on this road trip. While I personally would love a 74 point “off year”, it is pretty average by his standards. Natural Stat Trick shows him, since January 27th, being outscored 1-9 on the ice without Draisaitl. I want him to cap off the team’s toughest road trip before the Trade Deadline with a productive closing.
New Canes: Since being traded to Carolina, Mikko Rantanen has 5 points in 9 games, while Taylor Hall has just 2. There’s been some talk in hockey media of Rantanen possibly being traded again, his production has been on and off after leaving Colorado. Hall just scored his first as a Hurricane the other night, and would like to get it going more against the team that drafted him. The Oilers were already burned by Martin Necas before the break after leaving Carolina. Don’t get burned by these trade pieces, too.
ITR 45: Everything Is Happening – Inside The Rink
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What key strategies should the Edmonton Oilers focus on to secure a win in today’s game?