GDB 12.0: Time for the Oilers to show up? (7pm MST, SNW)

Photo credit:Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

6 years ago

So far the 2017/2018 season has been a disaster for the Edmonton Oilers. Outside of a few individuals, there are very positives for the team.

Their bottom six has no goals at even strength.
Their penalty kill is a laughable 68.3% and worst in the NHL
The powerplay sits 29th at 13.2%.
They are 23rd in GAA at 3.27.
They are dead last in goals/game at 2.18.
Cam Talbot has .904sv% which is 25th among starting goalies.

Outside of statistics, the Oilers have lacked emotion. Last season they would impose their will or bully teams. They could beat teams with skill, but they also had Zack Kassian and others yapping and in the face of the opposition.

This season, we’ve seen very little hunger or desperation in their game. It is time the Oilers woke up.

For years the Oilers had no identity. Last season they finally started initiating the pace of the game.

They could attack and play run and gun.
They could play a patient game and make fewer defensive mistakes.
They played with emotion.

So far this season, we’ve seen very little of the aforementioned traits.

Of course the lack of emotion isn’t their downfall, but it is noticeably absent, just like their goal scoring, special teams and goaltending.

Kassian was an emotional on-ice leader last season, but we’ve seen very little of that so far. He didn’t just run around hammering guys. He made many good plays, but he did much of it with emotion or a huge smile on his face. We haven’t seen that as often yet. How come?

“That is a good question,” replied Kassian. “The entire team can build off of energy and momentum and we need to bring it more often. It is something I know I do well and need to do more of,” said Kassian.

If the morning was any indication, I suspect Kassian will be in a surly mood this evening. During our conversation, I could sense he was a bit irritated. Not in a negative way, just a bit on edge.

I asked McLellan about the lower emotional tone from his team now compared to last season.

“A lot of our emotion is tied up in frustration right now,” he said.

It is natural for anyone to get frustrated when things aren’t going as expected. I don’t think the Oilers are good enough to just lace up their skates and win, but they shouldn’t 30th place in the league. We’ve seen many last place teams and this roster has more talent and shouldn’t be hovering at the bottom of the standings.

PK DISASTER

Jan 8, 2017; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan follows the action in the third period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. The Senators defeated the Oilers 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve discussed the special teams debacle for weeks. You all know the issues, and while the new powerplay lines looked more efficient last game, the PP has yet to win them a game.

The penalty kill has been a disaster, especially at home, where it’s running at 54.2%. Seriously, how can a group be that ineffective on home ice? They’ve allowed 11 goals on 24 opposing powerplays.

Their road penalty kill is quite good, 88.2%. I know home or road shouldn’t matter, but it is mind-blowing how bad their penalty kill has been at home.

Their road games have been in Pittsburgh (second best PP), Philadelphia (8th), Vancouver (25th) and Chicago (27th).
At home, they’ve faced Dallas (first), Pittsburgh (second), Ottawa (9th), Washington (11th), Winnipeg (17th), Carolina (20th) and Calgary (24th).

The Capitals didn’t have one powerplay opportunity, while Calgary went 0-for-1.

Ottawa and Dallas both went 3-for-5, Pittsburgh was 2-for-4 and Winnipeg was 1-for-4.

The harsh reality is in their last 79 regular season games the Oilers have allowed 52 goals on 223 penalty kills. That is a woeful 76.6%.

The worst PK in the NHL last season was Dallas at 73.9%. No other team was below 76.6%. The Oilers PK woes are more than just a bad eleven games. It has been an issue for almost a year, but the rest of their game was good enough to overshadow the PK struggles. Right now they aren’t good enough 5×5 and on the PP to compensate for a dreadful penalty kill.

The scary part for the Oilers is they can’t be much more disciplined than they are. Since the start of the 2016/2017 season, the Oilers have been shorthanded 264 times. Only Columbus, 256, and Carolina, 224, have been on the PK less than the Oilers. The coaches can’t preach stay out of the box, because they are already very disciplined compared to other teams.

You can look at personnel, but is Jim Johnson, who oversees the PK, delivering the right message? We are seeing too many open seams, or easy zone entries. Maybe the willingness isn’t there to kill penalties. Attention to detail matters, and if the players aren’t continually putting their sticks in the right lane, attacking at the right time or selling out and getting completely in the shooting lane then there are breakdowns.

The players need to be better, but I’d argue Johnson needs to outline the system better, or alter what he is showing them. Because right now nothing is working.

The New Jersey Devils skate into Edmonton tonight with the fifth best powerplay at 26.8%. Rookie Will Butcher leads the Devils with seven PP points, while Taylor Hall and Jesper Bratt are second with five and tied for the team lead with two powerplay goals. Drew Stafford and Adam Henrique also have two goals and seven players have at least one PP marker thus far. Both of their units are productive.

The Oilers have to improve in almost every facet of their game. The bottom six must find a way to contribute offensively. The skilled forwards need to wake up on the powerplay. The PK group has to find a way to just be average. Cam Talbot needs to be better in goal and the overall emotion and energy from the team needs to increase.

They can’t keep waiting for the next game, or soon they will be talking about next season.

LINEUP

Oilers

Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl
Lucic-RNH-Slepyshev
Caggiula-Strome-Jokinen
Pakarinen-Letestu-Kassian

Nurse-Larsson
Klefbom-Benning
Russell-Gryba/Auvitu

Talbot

Anton Slepyshev gets bumped to the second line and Jussi Jokinen returns. Kailer Yamamoto comes out of the lineup and will be best served returning to junior to dominate and then represent the USA at the World Juniors. Yamamoto likely learned a lot in his eight games, and he’s been rewarded with two big pay cheques. A nice bonus, and one he earned by having a great preseason and some solid early NHL games. But his last few games has shown he is ready yet to be a regular NHL player.

Devils

Hall-Hischier-Stafford
Gibbons-Henrique-Bratt
Boyle-Zacha-Hayes
Wood- Coleman

Greene-Santini
Moore-Severson
Mueller-Butcher
Prout

Schneider

Hall leads the Devils with 15 points in 11 games. They have goals from 15 different skaters thus far and that’s really helped them to their surprising 9-2 start. The Devils aren’t a dominant team, and despite their great early record they are a team the Oilers should be competitive against.

The Devils have dressed seven D-men a few times this season.

Lineups (subject to change) are courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…

From All About the Jersey:

Ah, the Oilers. When I saw this game on the schedule before the season began I figured New Jersey would be heading in with a sub-.500 record and Edmonton would be the team in the driver’s seat of it’s division. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in that thought process. But here we are: New Jersey is 11 games in and seven games over .500. They lead the Metropolitan, hockey’s most stacked division, through the first month of play, and they’ve been exciting while doing it. Edmonton, on the other hand, is a team relying too heavily on their first line to produce offense, and the results haven’t been great. Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli came into the job knowing he had to improve the back-end. He did that with moves like the Taylor Hall trade. He also signed a strong starting goalie to carry the team in the GP column in Cam Talbot. These things are all well and good. He improved the back-end. But he improved it at the cost of offensive depth. Simply put, Edmonton doesn’t have enough scorers in it’s lineup. This Oilers team simply doesn’t have any reliable guys who can put the puck in the net consistently in 5-on-5 play.

TONIGHT…

Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk

GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Devils aren’t as good as their record. They are due for a rough night. Oilers wake up and win 5-2.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Former Oilers Taylor Hall scores a goal.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Snuffaluffagus. The Loch Ness Monster. The bottom six avoids being lumped in with those yet-to-be-seen characters and score a 5×5 goal. In fact they score two.

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Source: Jason Gregor, Verified Twitter Account, 11/03/2017 – 12:45pm MST

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