Bottom-six starting to show up

As Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue to dominate the league as the most explosive duo on the ice, the Edmonton Oilers bottom-six is starting to show up in their own right.

Jujhar Khaira, Markus Granlund, and Gaetan Haas, namely, are all have started to bring some offensive contributions to the club.

If you’re a reader of my weekend columns, you’ll know how much I’ve harped on the bottom-six of this club in recent weeks. What’s been a lack of bottom-six scoring for Edmonton in recent years continues to be my greatest concern for the club long term.

Over the last five games, McDavid has gone 7-8—15 while Draisaitl has gone 1-10—11. Yeah, not bad.

But beyond the dynamic duo, Khaira 5GP-3-0—3, Granlund 4GP-2-0—2, and Haas 5GP-0-2—2, have given the club some offensive contribution.

Patrick Russell and Riley Shahan, too, have gotten on the scoreboard with singular assists each.

It’s what the Oilers have been waiting for all year.

Two of Khaira’s goals came on Nov. 16 in a 5-4 OT loss against Dallas that saw Edmonton blow a third-period lead, but were crucial reasons the Oilers were even in the game.

Granlund’s goal on Nov. 19 against the Sharks in a 5-2 win came only three minutes into the game but set the pace for what would be one of Edmonton’s best games of the season.

And just last night, Granlund found twine halfway through the second-period building Edmonton a 3-1 lead enroute to the 4-2 win against the Golden Knights.

While points, in general, have been nice from this group, they are coming at key times helping keep Edmonton in games.

They’ve all done a respectable job at creating scoring chances and driving play on the ice — another good sign.

The Oilers really need this group to continue to build off this success. Call me naive, but I just can’t see McDavid and Draisaitl keeping up the pace they’re currently scoring at (and that’s not to say they still won’t be powerhouses night in and night out).

Let’s see if they can build off it tonight in a game that could give Edmonton five-point lead in the Pacific Division title race.

On Twitter: @zjlaing