Jets 5, Oilers 2 post-game Oil Spills: Unfamiliar Territory
By Cam Lewis
6 years agoWell, this start hasn’t gone as planned. After an excellent season-opening win over the Flames, the Oilers have dropped back-to-back games to the Canucks and Jets, something we didn’t see very often last season. What’s wrong? Is it time to hit the panic button?
Highlights
After going down 2-0 in the first period, Leon Draisaitl got the Oilers on the board in the second with a sharp shot past Connor Hellebuyck’s blocker. Unsurprisingly, it was offence created by Edmonton’s top line, as Connor McDavid won the battle on the forecheck and fed Drai who danced through the slot for the shot.
Under a minute later, the Oilers capitalized on the momentum and knotted the game at 2-2 on a beautiful goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. RNH showed that former first overall pick life we haven’t seen as much as we’d like, taking a pass from Darnell Nurse and breaking away from two Jets defenders before roofing it over Hellebuyck who had gone for a poke check.
But a few minutes after they tied the game, the Jets pulled themselves back on top. Nik Ehlers picked up the puck and slipped through a very limp looking Oilers squad before roofing a wrister over Cam Talbot’s blocker. This goal wasn’t a good look for Matt Benning or Kris Russell, who waved their sticks at Ehlers as he set up for the shot.
Soon after that, the Jets restored their two-goal lead as Mark Scheifele won a race to the puck on the forecheck, quickly slipped it to Blake Wheeler who set up Ehlers for the easy tap in. This was an ugly one for Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson, who got caught chasing the puck, leaving Ehlers wide open from a place he isn’t going to miss from.
By the numbers
This was a weird game for the Oilers. In the first period, they guttered Winnipeg in shot differential but a couple of ugly mistakes resulted in the Jets scoring two goals. In the second, the Jets put their foot on the gas and controlled the play, outshooting Edmonton handily, but the Oilers scored two goals. In the third, Winnipeg shelled up, and while the Oilers took it to them in terms of shot attempts, they didn’t get many high danger chances on the Jets net.
All told, the shots ended up split down the middle, with Edmonton slightly edging 57-56 in shot attempts, tied 41-41 in unblocked shot attempts, and Winnipeg edging 29-28 in scoring chances. The reality was Winnipeg was able to take advantages of mistakes and capitalize while the Oilers weren’t.
The numbers suggest Matt Benning and Kris Russell got caved in in terms of shot attempt differential, which I think anyone watching the game would agree with. Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson’s pair led the way in shot attempt differential, though what they generated offensively playing with the McDavid-Draisaitl juggernaut they seemed to give back in the defensive zone. Outside of the aforementioned McDavid line, the other forwards didn’t get much going offensively, and that’s reflected in the numbers.
Thoughts…
- What we’ve seen the last couple of games is the opponent bringing their A game. Vancouver, I thought, played a damn good game on Saturday and earned that win. Winnipeg was fine, far from perfect, but they capitalized on their chances, played with a lot of energy, and were a lot better in the defensive zone than we’ve seen in the past. This is a new reality for the Oilers as they were pegged to be legitimate contenders this season. They dominated the Western Canadian teams last season, and those teams are going to give it an extra push this time around. The Oilers are going to have to adapt to playoff-like efforts from opponents on a nightly basis. In the last two games, they haven’t outworked Winnipeg or Vancouver. The Oilers are a skilled team, but they aren’t a team that relies solely on speed and skill. They’re built to play a competitive, physical style, and if they aren’t outworking teams who are motivated to come into their arena with a very good performance, they’re going to have results like these.
- Andrej Sekera’s presence on the blueline has been missed. Matt Benning and Kris Russell had themselves a hell of a time against the Jets. This isn’t really surprising. On one hand, you have two defenders learning how to play with each other, and on the other, you have a sophomore who’s coming off the most physically demanding season of his life now playing a less sheltered, higher intensity role. It’s also noticeable in Oscar Klefbom who’s taken on more minutes as the top defender on the left side. Klefbom played 24:19 in all situations yesterday and looked pretty gassed because of it. I don’t think the Oilers need to rush Sekera back or anything, as chemistry will improve and players will adapt into their roles over time, but I think it’s becoming very clear just how valuable his presence is on the blueline.
- It might be time to split up the dynamic duo. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Patrick Maroon form one of, if not the best line in hockey. Last night, they were Edmonton’s best forward trio based on the numbers and it was pretty noticeable for anybody watching. That said, the rest of the forwards badly need a spark offensively and putting Draisaitl on his own line could provide that. I’ve noticed Ryan Strome looks very trigger-happy and the third line he’s centring is out of sorts because of it. That kind of style would work well alongside McDavid on the top line. While having McDavid and Draisaitl together is a massive trump card to dominate the other team, it makes the Oilers a lot easier to match against.
- It’s only been three games. The key to sports is never to get too high or too low. I’ll concede the team hasn’t looked very good the last two games and the 1-2 record is an adequate reflection of how they’ve played. But, again, it’s only three games. A lot of players are coming off of their shortest off-season ever and there’s new faces to work with in terms of chemistry. If the team is still looking lost and sluggish after 10 games, then we can start to panic.
Source: NHL.com, Official Game Page, 10/09/2017, 11:16am MST
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