Good morning, everyone, and a happy Monday to you all. As always, I’ve got a brand new mailbag ready to go after taking your questions and sending them to the crew for their take. This week, we’re discussing the Oilers’ scoring woes, Isaac Howard’s spot in the lineup, puck management, and more. If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask, email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk, and I’ll get to you as soon as I can.

The big guns aren’t scoring at 5×5. In the first 10 games McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard combined for two goals at 5×5, and Draisaitl has both. When they produce more 5×5 it will funnel down to the rest of the lineup.

They refuse to shoot the puck. Instead of taking the chances that they’re given, the Oilers keep passing the puck out of the slot instead of taking a shot. We saw how putting pucks on net can be beneficial in the game against Montreal, and I’m truly puzzled why they don’t do it more often.

Knoblauch has used him wisely. He didn’t put him in a position to face toughest competition in his first few games, or where they were was any pressure to produce. He has played better and got promoted to the top six in Seattle. If he plays 12+ min a game, I’d keep him in EDM, but when Hyman returns that could push him out of the top nine, and if so, then I’d rather he plays big minutes in Bakersfield.

I think the injuries are going to give him some leash here, but I ultimately think some time in the AHL would do him some good. He’s not playing that many minutes with the Oilers right now, and I’d like to see him get a chance to play 20+ mins per night with the Condors. I think it would do some good for his confidence and ultimately what he’s able to do on the NHL roster.

Pass better. Make better decisions. Play with some physical intensity, but mainly just complete more passes and reduce the glaring giveaways.

Pass to your teammates and not the other team. That would be super helpful. The other one would be to stop trying the breakout play where the forwards rush to the far blue line and hope for a miracle. That would also be helpful.

I spoke to him about it. He knows he needs to shoot more but admitted it isn’t natural for him. He’s been a pass-first player his entire life. His natural instinct is to pass. He can shoot more, and he has in the past, but through the first 10 games he’s averaging 2.8 shots/game. Not nearly good enough. The year he scored 64 goals he averaged 4.29 shots/game. He needs to shoot more and he knows it.

He’s not shooting as much as he could be. He’s still thinking pass first and collecting assists, but he’s the best player on earth, and it’s okay for him to be selfish more often.

The big advantage is they don’t have to go to the Eastern time zone after December. That will help, and they have much less travel in the second half, combined with more home games. I think the rest and home crowd should help them down the stretch, as long as they remain relatively healthy.

Has to be a good thing, right? Line matching, sleeping in your own bed, and having the home side behind you can only help. That said, the Oilers need to make sure Rogers Place is a rink no one wants to play in. Otherwise, what does it matter?

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