After a pair of mistake-riddled losses to the Islanders and Devils, the Oilers made their way to Detroit to take on the red-hot Red Wings in search of simplicity. When the boys are getting caved in by errors, the best approach to climbing out of the hole is by playing simple hockey instead of trying to pass their way into the net, so that’s what I was looking for on Sunday. Unfortunately, what we got was another tough 60 minutes for the Oilers, as their losing streak hit three games after a painful 4-2 loss in Detroit.

You always worry about how the boys will start the second half of a back-to-back, right? Well… the Oilers hit the ice like they’d just woken up from a nap, and only managed to generate three shots on goal in the first period despite having more than a few opportunities to test John Gibson. For a team gagging for offence, trying to pass your way into the net just isn’t good enough. If anything, I’d much rather they dumb it down a bit. Keep things simple until guys start getting some mojo back. Cram bodies in front of the net, fire pucks from everywhere, and bang away for the greasy ones. Gibson came into Sunday’s matchup with an .867 save percentage and a 3.57 GAA in two starts, so this wasn’t a goalie locked in and stealing games. Even so, the Oilers barely tested him. Everyone knows my motto in games like this is to shoot from the parking lot, but we didn’t get anything close to that.

On the bright side, Stuart Skinner was absolutely ready to go early and was very sharp when he needed to be. Stu cancelled out a couple of mistakes like the early one-on-one with Andrew Copp, but overall, the Oilers did do a better job limiting the kinds of dangerous chances that burned them against the Islanders and Devils. The defensive structure looked cleaner and more intentional, which is encouraging, but the lack of urgency in the offensive zone was still a major problem. I know the wheels fell off defensively in the second period, but the D was cleaner early. At the other end, you can’t expect to win when you’re passing up your best looks for passes to the perimeter, and the Oilers will need to adjust that mindset going forward if they plan to start stringing wins together. I’m not saying shooting for the sake of shooting is always the answer, but it’s certainly a better approach than not putting anything on net at all.

For the third straight game, the Oilers found a way to beat themselves, this time dropping a 4–2 decision in Detroit that was very tough to watch. The most frustrating part? It wasn’t that Detroit played some world-beating flavour of hockey or anything — don’t get me wrong, the Wings were solid — it’s that the Oilers played with zero sense of urgency. I know the Oilers were in action yesterday in New Jersey, but they just weren’t engaged nearly enough. The slow start I wrote about above seemed to set the tone for what ended up as a lacklustre effort until it was too late. They didn’t shoot nearly enough, and even when lanes did open up, they hesitated or tried to make one pass too many. That lack of a killer instinct bled through the whole game. It wasn’t until the Oilers were down by two goals in the third that they finally started to look alive.

When the give-a-shit meter finally spiked, the boys actually started to control play and hem the Wings in their own end. The problem, of course, is that by the time they realized they were playing, it ended up being too late to matter. Leon Draisaitl’s goal at 7:33 of the third period cut the deficit to one and gave them plenty of time to grin out another one, but it never should’ve taken forty+ minutes and a hole to climb out of to get there. The Oilers finished the night with only 18 shots on goal (18!!!) and somehow still managed to stick John Gibson with a .889 save percentage. Why they didn’t think it was a good idea to test a goalie whose been wobbly more than they did is a mystery. You can’t score if you don’t shoot, and you can’t win if you wait until desperation kicks in. They didn’t lose because the other goalie was unbeatable or the other team was dominant; they lost because they looked like they’re playing as if these games don’t matter until April. And until that changes, we’re going to keep watching the same movie on repeat.

If the goal is to find a 4C who can give you a range of skills, play 10–12 minutes effectively, and do it on a cheap contract, then Noah Philp has to be that guy. After scoring his first NHL goal against the Canucks in the second game of the year, he was scratched for three straight, only to jump back into the lineup against the Red Wings and score the Oilers’ lone goal through 40 minutes. Philp is big, he’s quick, he’s right-handed, has solid possession numbers, and shows decent offensive instincts, which is exactly what you want from a player in that position. His goal at 12:25 of the second period came on a slick deflection from the slot off Vasily Podkolzin’s wrister from the point, and that only happens because he went to the greasy area and had the touch to make something of the chance when he got there.

We’re dying for goals around here, and Philp’s second of the year in only his third game puts him third in team scoring. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about where this group is at right now, I don’t know what other numbers will. And while I thought he played well against Detroit, the bigger story is that Noah Philp is exactly the type of affordable depth centreman the Oilers need. Sure, the dream scenario would be having someone who can also kill penalties — and Philp hasn’t earned that trust yet — but that doesn’t mean the coaching staff shouldn’t recognize what’s working at even strength. There will be growing pains, no doubt, but right now it feels like there’s a lot more good going on in his game than bad. And for a bottom-six that’s struggled to provide any signs of life, that’s not a player you can afford to keep sitting in the press box.

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