Oil Kings return home on a 9-game skid
6 years ago
As the Oil Kings loaded up the bus for their five-game road trip through British Columbia, I was optimistic that they would find success. They had played Victoria well so far this year and they had two games against a very beatable Prince George team. They had also lost their last four games on home ice despite playing some really solid hockey, so I figured that they would eventually be rewarded for their solid play with some wins.
I was wrong. I was so so wrong. The Oil Kings head home having now lost nine consecutive contests and currently sit dead-last in the WHL. I was hoping that some time away from Rogers place would eliminate distractions and just allow them to focus on hockey, but again, I was so so wrong.
The trip started in Victoria and by all accounts, this was one of their best efforts of the trip. They outshot a very strong Royals team 34-22 and were up 2-0 halfway through the game. In the end, they gave up three unanswered goals, including two on the powerplay, and dropped this one 3-2.
Next up they faced the Vancouver Giants, who managed to post five goals in the second period alone and were up 8-1 after 40 minutes. That’s when things got a little crazy as Edmonton turned on the jets and scored SIX UNANSWERED GOALS IN THE THIRD PERIOD! They managed to bring this back to 8-7, in large part thanks to Tomas Soustal who posted five points in the final 20 minutes, but 8-7 is as close as it got as they dropped another contest on the west coast.
Now, you could look at this game and say that they never gave up and their offense came alive and view this comeback as a positive. You could also say that they gave up eight goals in two periods and simply played better once the opposition took their foot off the gas. The truth probably sits somewhere in the middle of those two statements. In this one, I think they needed some help from their goalies. I don’t care how you paint it, eight goals on 36 shots is not good enough.
They also traveled to Kelowna, where they were handed a 5-2 loss. This was I would call a “team loss” as only three players weren’t on the ice for a goal against.
They finished up the trip with back-to-back losses to the Prince George Cougars. In one of these games they deserved to get a win and in the other they looked like a last-place team, surrendering 40 shots to the Cougars. There were some solid efforts mixed into this road trip but the team is growing tired of the moral victories. Nine consecutive losses is unacceptable, no matter how strong your effort is.
WHERE TO PUT THE BLAME
It’s tough to nail down one reason for this nine-game losing skid. The special teams have been inconsistent, but the powerplay was running at 25% over the latest road trip so you can’t really fault that area of the team. There were some untimely powerplay goals against, but I chalk that up to poor discipline rather than lacklustre penalty killing.
You can put some blame on the goaltenders, both of whom have had some really bad games as of late, but I hate pointing the finger at the last line of defense. On one hand, I would love to see one of the goalies steal a game for this team, because sometimes when you’re in a slump like this you simply need your goalie to pitch a shutout. But that’s a difficult thing to ask for when the team in front of Child and Bilous isn’t that strong.
It sucks to have to say this, but they just need to keep working hard. It’s so cliche but it really is true in this instance. This team was not supposed to be good this year, and honestly, the fact they’ve stayed close in a lot of games is a real positive sign. On most nights it will simply be one or two aspects of their game that fail them and result in a loss.
To quote the now famous slogan of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Oil Kings need to “Trust the Process” and just hope that the continued improvement of their youth and hard work will start to pay off.
NEXT UP
The Oil Kings will be back in action on Friday night when they welcome the Kootenay Ice to Rogers Place. Despite the fact that they’re in second place in the Central Division, the Ice could be a perfect opponent for the Oil Kings.
Kootenay is under .500 with a record of 10-12-1. They sit 5th last in the league in goals against and 6th last in goals for. Given how the outbursts of offense we saw from Edmonton over the road trip, they may be able to take advantage of a defensively weak Ice team.
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