REASONS FOR SUCCESS

• Connor McDavid leads the NHL in scoring. That’s good.
• Cam Talbot is No. 10 among goalies who have played 30 or more games, both in even-strength SP and overall SP.
• Edmonton is No. 10 in goals-per-game with 2.91.
• The Oilers are No. 7 in goals-against per game with 2.51.
• The team is No. 5 in power-play percentage.
• Orange and blue are inside the Top 16 in penalty killing.
• No. 8 in shots per game and No. 12 in shots-against per game.

REASONS FOR FURROWED BROW

• Agnihotri: The one issue for the Oilers is that possession wise, they have slid down to 19th in the league sitting at a 49.66% Corsi For percentage, which indicates their goal-share at even-strength might not exactly be sustainable. What’s even more concerning is that over their last 25 games, which would go back to the end of January, the team’s Corsi has been 47.46%, a number that the bottom-feeders of the league typically post. To make matters worse, while the team continues posting a respectable Corsi For% with McDavid on the ice, over the last 25 games, without McDavid the Oilers have a Corsi For% of 45.48%. Source

1. Reject the evidence as being superfluous or searching for previous examples of teams who have succeeded in spite of a 45 percent Corsi number. History tells us that a team scoring 5×5 at Edmonton’s current rate will not be able to sustain that kind of production.
2. Blame the problem on injuries. There is some truth to this, Matt Benning’s play since his concussion hasn’t been on the same level, while Kris Russell and Adam Larsson are likely dealing with the rigors of a long season.

LINEUPS

LW	C	RW
Patrick Maroon	Connor McDavid	Leon Draisaitl
Milan Lucic	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	Jordan Eberle
Benoit Pouliot	David Desharnais	Zack Kassian
Drake Caggiula	Mark Letestu	Matt Hendricks

Defensive Pairings
Oscar Klefbom	Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera	Kris Russell
Darnell Nurse	Eric Gryba

Goalies
Cam Talbot

LW	C	RW
Andrew Cogliano	Ryan Kesler	Jakob Silfverberg
Rickard Rakell	Antoine Vermette	Patrick Eaves
Nick Ritchie	Nate Thompson	Corey Perry
Logan Shaw	Chris Wagner	Jared Boll

Defensive Pairings
Cam Fowler	Brandon Montour
Hampus Lindholm	Josh Manson
Sami Vatanen	Kevin Bieksa

Goalies
John Gibson

NOTES

• Connor McDavid ranks No. 2 among NHL forwards in 5×5/60 scoring. This is an extremely important statistic, and 97 has been at or near the top since he arrived in the league.
• The line of Patrick Maroon-Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl is scoring at a 3.37/60 clip, and Corsica.hockey tells us that’s the No. 1 5×5 unit in the NHL (450 or more minutes).
• The Oilers may have been contemplating using this week to give players like Laurent Brossoit, Jujhar Khaira and (possibly) Jesse Puljujarvi some playing time with the big club. However, the chance to win the division must also have real appeal and we’ll see how the roster is deployed.
• Drake Caggiula has turned a corner. As often happens with rookies, it took some time for the game to slow down for him, and even though chances were coming earlier in the year, Caggiula couldn’t cash. He also had injury issues to overcome. In the last 10 games or so, you can see the added composure and confidence. Good to see.
• The Bakersfield Condors played and lost last night, meaning the race for the playoffs is basically a tie between them and the Stockton Heat (Flames affiliate).
• One of the keys to a long run in the postseason? Secondary scoring. The fourth line (Caggiula-Letestu-Slepyshev) had a fine game this week, I wonder if they see increased playing time. There’s offensive talent on that line.
• Be one of the first 150 people to get #RIPDOD party tickets and you’re entered to win a party package from Platinum Limos!

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

• C.J. Woodling, Anaheim Calling: 4 of the remaining 5 games left on the season come against playoff teams: Edmonton, Calgary (X2), and Chicago. Every one of these teams would prove to be a handful for the Ducks given their recent play, so the true playoff-ready report card will be graded come the completion of the regular season on April 9th. Source

TONIGHT

Photoshop: @TomKostiuk