Oilers Game 5: Winnipeg Jets

Who had Jay Woodcroft dropping an F-bomb on their hockey season bingo card? A calmer, more optimistic coach had to lose his patience at some point. The sky is not falling, and there are still 78 games left to play. But for a team that said it’s “Cup or Bust,” they seem to be more interested in the bust when they step onto the ice. It’s not that they’ve started the season losing, it’s how they’ve been losing. No disrespect to the Flyers, Predators, and Canucks x2, but a team with Stanley Cup aspirations doesn’t lose those games as easily as Edmonton has. Getting outshot 17-4 in the third period? When you need to come back from two goals? Come on, man. I’ve alluded to this many times in my articles, and it feels like I have to keep repeating myself.

For a very long time, there have been periods in a season where this team takes multiple nights off. The Edmonton Oilers can out-skill any team, but any team can outwork them. Hard work beats talent every time talent doesn’t work hard. It’s some sort of systemic flaw that this franchise can’t get past. Maybe they’re getting their “Up and down like a toilet seat” phase out early? It’s the only other reason I can think of. The 4-1 loss on Thursday night made the 6-1 win a distant memory and the 8-1 loss a more recent one. Jack Campbell would’ve wanted to take the shorthanded goal back, but Connor McDavid skated back to the bench disgusted for a reason. The Oilers were getting momentum back when the cut Philadelphia’s two goal lead in half. Then they went on the powerplay, and things may’ve started looking up. But then the captain casually turned the puck over (Yes, even the best players make mistakes), and that was the end of that. I understood inserting Vincent Desharnais in the lineup for his size because the Flyers always play a gritty game, and there were good physical moments from him. But I feel he covered the wrong skater on a rush that led to Philly’s 1-0 goal. They got caught too easily on all goals against, and Evan Bouchard continues to forget how to handle a puck.

I like Woodcroft as a coach, but in the first four games of the year, there is just one thing that’s rubbed me the wrong way about his coaching. Dylan Holloway deserves a top six spot at this point in time with how he’s been playing. He’s one of the few players on the team to show up consistently, but this organization has a history of age and experience bias with roster players. It’s only practice, but Holloway was demoted to the fourth line in today’s skate. I hope it won’t stay that way on Saturday night. The first Hockey Night In Canada of the new season was an embarrassment, and the second was not ideal. We’ll see what the third one will bring us. The keys to the game are…

World’s Smallest Violin: The Jets are always a team with enough talent to succeed but always underachieve. Much was made of head coach Rick Bowness’ end-of-season press conference last year, and they’ve started the year allowing as many goals as Edmonton. Two Canadian teams not on winning terms facing each other? Of course, we want our team to win; the desperation level has to be high on either side of the rink. Part of that would be for Edmonton’s defense to be more responsible than it has been.

Score More Garbage Goals: After Leon Draisaitl broke the franchise PP goal record, former Oiler icon Ryan Smyth posted a video congratulating him. Smyth scored 386 goals in his NHL career, and almost all of them were scored near the crease, waiting for deflections and rebounds. Zach Hyman is the closest thing to a Ryan Smyth reincarnation, and he scored the lone goal on Thursday that way. For a team struggling with secondary scoring, it doesn’t get any easier against a top five goalie in the league. They have to make the game difficult for Connor Hellebuyck.

More Forward Help: You can excuse newcomer Connor Brown because he hadn’t played for a whole year before coming to Edmonton. It was always important to give him more time. Evander Kane had a rough go with injuries last year but has to break out at some point. I’d love for Holloway to have a really productive game on the stats sheet as a way to show off frustration for his demotion. If Mattias Janmark is on the second line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tomorrow, I do remember them having some chemistry last season. Maybe they can show it again. I’d love Warren Foegele to be with RNH and Hyman again, but it can’t just be the top two line scoring every night. The bottom six needs to step up and help take the load off.