The Edmonton Oilers have two games left before the Olympic break, following a rough 7-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild last Saturday.

With Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Josh Samanski the only three Oilers headed to the upcoming Olympics (so far), the team should aim to finish strong this week against their Canadian rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames.

With that in mind, here are five questions about the Oilers in the upcoming games before the majority of the team heads into vacation mode for the Olympic break.

As it stands, the Oilers have only three players going to the Olympics. With the schedule being so condensed leading up to the break, I’d imagine quite a few of them already have trips planned to relax on a nice beach for a bit. We also have to remember that, despite being freak-of-nature athletes, these NHL players are human too. With the Olympic break coming up, it’s easy for part of their minds to slip into ‘vacation mode,’ and giving 110% at work can start to feel harder than usual.

On the other hand, while they’re still human, they also get paid millions of dollars to do a job. After the 7-3 beatdown from the Wild, they can’t just pack it in with some big games coming up against the Maple Leafs on Feb. 3 and the Flames the night after, which are sure to be tough and emotional matchups.

That said, factoring in the loss to the Wild and with netminder Calvin Pickard, who by all accounts was a great locker room presence, recently placed on waivers, I’m very curious to see what kind of team we’ll see in the next two games.

If I were the coach, my advice to the players would be: “Your future self will thank you for the work you put in today.” In other words, the Oilers should give it their all and win the last two games before the Olympic break, so they can relax for two weeks, worry-free, without having to face lingering media questions about how they played heading into the break when they return.

Even though the Oilers got their lunch handed to them by the Wild, I thought one of the best lines that night was the Matt Savoie–Josh Samanski–Jack Roslovic line.

They produced a goal, with Samanski recording his first NHL point by winning the faceoff that led to a Roslovic tally, and they were excellent in the advanced metrics. According to Natural Stat Trick, in just under nine minutes, they posted an 81% Corsi, 100% shots-for percentage (8–0), 94.82% expected goals for (xGF%), 8–2 in scoring chances, and 3–0 in high-danger chances.

Savoie has looked very confident with the puck over the last few games, Roslovic scoring last game is hopefully a sign of things to come, and Samanski has improved in each game he’s played. Moreover, the German centre led the team last game with a 92.62 xGF%, 83.33 SCF%, and 100 HDCF% at 5v5. As a whole, the line has shown improvement over the last three games together, and if they can build on that momentum in the final two games before the Olympic break, it could leave a lasting impression on Knoblauch, increasing the likelihood they’re reunited when the Oilers return on Feb. 25.

In regard to Samanski, there’s a lot to like in his game — he has size, defensive awareness, and his offence is starting to come out. Heading to the Olympics to represent Germany, he’ll get a chance to play with some of the best players in the world, likely with a mentor by his side in Draisaitl, who I imagine will take him under his wing. That experience, combined with continuing to play during the upcoming stretch while many of his peers won’t, should work wonders for his game.

On the Oilers’ current seven-game homestand, they’ve generated 81 high-danger chances at 5v5 and allowed 83 against, including a whopping 21 in their last game against the Wild. I’m no mathematician, but 21 is a lot — and that’s definitely not a recipe for success.

Cutting down on Grade A chances against, to me, starts with attention to detail on the defensive side of the game. Against the Wild, a couple of goals stood out due to a lack of attention to detail and blown assignments — the first goal against, with Quinn Hughes skating up ice while the Oilers were puck watching and not keeping their heads on a swivel, leaving Joel Eriksson Ek open for a breakaway, and Tyler Pitlick’s goal, where he was left all alone in front to bury it.

After the game, head coach Kris Knoblauch assessed his team’s performance, saying:

Moreover, netminder Tristan Jarry, who allowed five goals against the Wild, spoke about his performance in the postgame interview and alluded to the Grade-A chances his team was giving up in front of him, affecting his play, saying, “Some of the shots — they’re tough. I think it’s a lot of Grade A’s, a lot of breakdowns, so it’s tough to really think about your game at this point. I think it’s a whole team game.”

With the Oilers nearing the finish line before the Olympic break, will we see them finish strong and pay attention to the little details on the defensive side of the game, or will their minds already be on the beach, toes in the sand and sipping piña coladas?

With the Oilers giving up seven goals last game — the third-most they’ve allowed this season — and the Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews coming to town next, I’m wondering if Knoblauch goes for a big shakeup and loads up the top line with  Draisaitl, McDavid, and Zach Hyman, and we see Ryan Nugent-Hopkins move back to centre on the second line.

Against the Wild, the Vasily Podkolzin–Nugent-Hopkins–Kapanen line, despite not getting on the score sheet, posted some positive analytics in just under seven minutes: a 76.92% Corsi, 6–1 edge in shots, and 2–1 in high-danger chances.

Plus, Kapanen and Nugent-Hopkins have shown a bit of chemistry together recently. Five games ago, when Draisaitl was in Germany for a family matter, the pair played with each other, and Nugent-Hopkins sprung Kapanen for a breakaway goal against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 17, then fed him a nice backhand, which Kapanen scored again for a pair of second-period goals.

Oilers’ netminder Tristan Jarry had a tough night against the Wild, giving up five goals and posting a .750 save percentage (SV%).

As mentioned, the team in front of him gave up some Grade-A chances, but when that happens, the goaltender needs to help the team out with a big save or two. Since joining the Oilers, Jarry has shown he can make big saves in key moments, as reflected by his fourth-place NHL ranking in high-danger unblocked shot attempt save percentage (0.846 SV%), according to MoneyPuck.

But last game against the Wild, out of the five goals he let in, he would’ve likely wanted at least three of them back, and during the intermission on the CBC broadcast, hockey analyst and former netminder Kelly Hrudey felt Jarry was doing a little too much in the crease.

Overall, Jarry has a 6-4 record with the Oilers, with a .866 SV%, but since returning from injury on Jan. 13, he’s 3-4 and has had two games with a sub-.800 save percentage: a .727 SV% against his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, on Jan. 22, and a .750 SV% last game. When Knoblauch was asked about Jarry’s play since returning, he said, “Not nearly at the level that he was playing at before,” but added, “We’re confident that he’s going to find his game.”

Jarry hasn’t quite been at his pre-injury form since returning, and with two games left before the Olympic break, hopefully he can deliver a big performance in what I imagine will be a split of the final two games with Connor Ingram, head into the break on a high note, and then get two weeks to rest and recover if anything is still bothering him.

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