I hope none of you went back to panicking after this past week. The first week of February wasn’t nice, but the Oilers are still good. The months of December and January were so good that the team was bound to have a game or two like Saturday night. What I can take away from this week were the games that Edmonton lost. Their last two Playoff opponents, and both losses were in regulation. Of course, it’s still a long season. But an opportunity was missed to make up more ground in the standings. Even forcing Overtime and getting a pair of loser points would’ve been ideal. The Golden Knights out-goalied the Oilers, and the Kings made them pay for their mistakes. From L.A.’s perspective, they needed to play a good first game with a new head coach. You couldn’t expect that to be an easy game anyway.
Related Post: Could the Oilers Switch Kulak For Broberg?
Not that I want to give fuel to the “only won against weaker teams” narrative, but L.A. and mostly Vegas could be an issue again for Edmonton in the Playoffs. The Kings may or may not turn it around that much after their coaching change. If they do, the Oilers need to be ready for a potential rematch with them as well. The Kings wouldn’t want to get knocked out by Edmonton three years in a row. Good teams must be able to beat other good teams. I’m not saying the Oilers haven’t done that at times this season because they have. But last week still showed some things to keep in mind come Playoff time. You might be able to get away with multiple games playing two mediocre periods and then winning it in the third period during the regular season. You won’t get away with it in April, May and June. Edmonton just finished a three-game road, is back home for one game, and then has another three-game road trip. 16 games in the next 28 days overall will be their toughest schedule of the season thus far. Starting tonight’s game, Edmonton will need to shake off the rust out of the gate. The keys to the game are…
Familiarity: During practice on Monday, the Oilers went back to their initial defense pairs of Ekholm/Bouchard, Nurse/Ceci, and Kulak/Desharnais. Going back to what was working before makes Oilers fans collectively happy. And Sam Gagner is drawing back in the lineup for fourth-line duties, with Mattias Janmark being a healthy scratch. The team’s bottom-six offense has been absent lately, and Gagner’s modest production could be the spark it needs.
Larkin Up The Wrong Tree: Detroit captain Dylan Larkin is having himself a good start to the new year. 16 points in 14 games through 2024, and 47 points in 45 games throughout this whole season. His speed is not the exact same as Connor McDavid’s(whose is?), but he can still burn you.
Klim Shady: A fan favorite in Edmonton last season, Klim Kostin will be returning to Rogers Place on the visitors’ side. I wanted the Oilers to keep him, he provided decent bottom six scoring and swagger. He’s struggled with his new team, with just 4 points in 30 games. He didn’t play in Detroit’s first game back from the All-Star break, but he’s also not listed with an injury. I feel like he would dress against his former team and would want to have a big night in front of a fan base that adored him.
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