Sometimes the hockey gods are in your corner.
And other times, like last night for the Edmonton Oilers, they’re staunchly opposed to giving you the benefit of the doubt. Such is the game of hockey.
All it would’ve taken for the Oilers to swing the tide in their direction was one of their four posts they hit to have gone ever so slightly different. A few inches to the inside, and maybe we’re talking about the Oilers beating the Buffalo Sabres instead of falling to them as Edmonton did last night, losing 3-2.
But Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch isn’t buying that as a reason for why the Oilers fell, instead slamming poor defensive play from players who haven’t been contributing offensively.
“It was the kind of mistakes we made,” said Knoblauch when asked what led to them chasing the game. “You look at the turnovers that led to scoring chances off the rush. We spent very little time in the defensive zone, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that, but just the puck management and giving chances off the rush is just a big, big, big story tonight.”
All three of the Sabres’ goals against came off the rush, highlighting what Knoblauch spoke of.
Tage Thompson opened the scoring with six and a half minutes left in the first, as the big man carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone, taking a long shot with a big rebound, cashing it in as four Oilers stood idle nearby.
Alex Tuch’s second period marker was set up by Ryan McLeod, who entered the Oilers zone, finding Tuch. He then let a shot go so quickly that Stuart Skinner didn’t even have a chance to drop to the ice and try to make a save.
The third goal, another by Thompson, was all too similar to his first. He and Josh Norris got sprung on a two-on-one against a racing Evan Bouchard, while Norris was able to knock a puck towards Thompson, burying what would be the game-winning goal.
This one will sit with the Oilers for a few days, as their next game doesn’t come until Thursday night when they visit the New Jersey Devils. And while Knoblauch is thankful for some practice time, he’s tired of going over the same issues on video.
“We’ve got a couple days of practice, lots of time for some video,” said Knoblauch. “I don’t think any of the video is going to matter. I think we’ve been talking about it a lot, it’s just about guys executing. It’s an important part of the game.
“Making a play, making a nice pass, it’s important, but it’s frustrating when some of the guys who aren’t contributing offensively are contributing for scoring chances against, which is really hurting us. It’s really different if you’re making those plays and it’s leading to offence and once in a while you get caught, but if you’re not creating that offence and you’re giving up those chances, that’s what’s hurting the team.”
Harsh words, without a doubt, but justified. Defending off the rush has been an issue for the team dating back to last season, and the message still hasn’t seemed to be heard.
The Oilers got a pair of goals from the blue line, mind you, as Darnell Nurse ripped a point shot home early in the second period, and Evan Bouchard added his first power play goal that beat a goalie partway through the frame, but it wasn’t enough.
“I think we had enough chances to have four, five, maybe six goals,” said Knoblauch. “You look at the goal posts, you see their goaltender made some pretty big saves, but… we only scored two tonight, which is usually not enough. The chances we gave up were just self-inflicted.”
Edmonton’s road trip next takes them to Newark to visit the Devils Thursday night (5:30 PM MT), before stops on Long Island to visit the Islanders Friday (5:30 PM MT) and finally, the Big Apple to face the Rangers Sunday night (5:00 PM MT).
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
