The Edmonton Oilers will square off against the Seattle Kraken tonight at Rogers Place, and the boys will have to get the job done without Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the lineup. If we ever wanted to know what the Oilers look like without their two best players, we’re about to get a taste of what the depth chart can do in their third of four meetings against Seattle.
“Connor’s got a doctor’s appointment today just to see how long it’s going to be, and we’re not anticipating him playing for tomorrow for sure,” Knoblauch said after Friday’s practice. “I would say day-to-day, maybe a week. We’ll find out more today. Same kind of timeline [for Draisaitl],” Knoblauch added. “Won’t be back immediately. He’ll probably be up to a week.”
Losing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is a problem. No matter who the Oilers call up or how much Kris Knoblauch shifts his line combos, no individual player can fill the void left by two MVPs. That said, this is where we’re at for the week or so. While there’s no doubt that the McDavid and Draisaitl-less Oilers are a much different team without its two biggest stars, it will be up to 18 guys in the lineup to step up and find a way to win anyway.
As much as some of the fanbase feels defeated about what the team might do without No. 97 & 29, I’m hoping the boys in the room look at the situation as an opportunity. I hope those boys are going into this stretch as motivated as possible to show that the team can still, even when injuries strike. As much as it sucks to lose those guys, we’ve been fortunate to have both of them as healthy as they’ve been over the years, and now it’s time for everyone else to step up and carry the mail while they recover.
“We have our 12 forwards, and right now, we can’t call anybody up unless it’s on an emergency basis, just with the salary cap,” Knoblauch said. “So right now, we have our players and we don’t have the option right now to call anybody up.”
Heading into Seattle, the shorthanded Oilers are facing a team that has been painfully mediocre all season. While they have plenty of solid pieces on the roster, the Kraken haven’t been able to get close to the playoffs since their second season when they got into the second round. And while we’ve seen many instances of the Oilers falling to bottom-feeders this season, I see tonight’s game as an opportunity for the available players to prove that they can win even without their captain(s).
“Play a more simplified game. When you don’t have 97 & 29 things change quite a bit. We’re gonna need a more collective effort throughout the lineup,” said Knoblauch after the morning skate.
As I write this article this morning, the Oilers are three points back of Vegas for first place and only two points up on Los Angeles for third. As much as we’re all understandably focusing on who’s not in the lineup, the players we will have available can’t let this stretch fall off the rails. We’ve already seen how impactful a bad week can be in the standings, and we can’t be using injuries as an excuse. The team need points, and I don’t want to hear any excuses from this veteran group because they still have enough talent to make some noise.
Let’s see what the numbers say…
THE NUMBERS
OILERS | KRAKEN | |
RECORD | 40-24-5 | 30-35-5 |
WIN/LOSS STREAK | L1 | L1 |
LAST 10 GAMES | 6-3-1 | 5-4-1 |
GOALS FOR | 224 | 209 |
GOALS AGAINST | 199 | 227 |
POWER PLAY% | 25.3 | 18.6 |
PENALTY KILL% | 77.5 | 77.1 |
AVG. SHOTS/FOR | 32.0 | 27.3 |
AVG. SHOTS/AGAINST | 27.1 | 28.5 |
TEAM SAVE% | .905 | .902 |
CORSI FOR% | 53.80 | 48.23 |
PDO | 0.988 | 0.996 |
TEAM SHOOTING% | 8.29 | 9.48 |
EXPECTED GOALS FOR% | 54.36 | 46.13 |
Numbers courtesy of Natural Stat Trick (Sv%, CF%, PDO, Shooting%, xGF% all at 5×5)
- Winners of their last eight games against Seattle, the Oilers closed out a pair of 4-2 wins over Seattle back on January 4th and January 25th to open the season series. After Saturday’s matchup, the Oilers and Kraken will finish their season series in Seattle on March 27th.
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has registered a point (1G, 6A) in his last seven games versus Seattle and at least one point in 11 of 12 career games against the Kraken.
- Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid lead all active Oilers in career games (13) against the Kraken, while Leon Draisaitl leads all active Oilers in career points (26) versus Seattle.
LINE COMBINATIONS
Oilers
Podkolzin – Nugent-Hopkins – Arvidsson
Perry – Henrique – Hyman
Skinner – Janmark – Brown
Jones – Ryan – Kapanen
Perry – Henrique – Hyman
Skinner – Janmark – Brown
Jones – Ryan – Kapanen
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Walman
Kulak – Stecher
Nurse – Walman
Kulak – Stecher
Skinner
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you see the line combos for tonight’s game? You nervous? I am. It’s a tough scene for a team already struggling to score to lose its best two players, but that’s the spot we’re in, and everyone listed above needs to level up. Do I like it? No. Do I hope we have enough veteran talent to guide the club through this injury window? I sure hope so. We shall see. All I know for sure is that we need Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, Adam Henrique, and the rest of the squad to bring nothing less than their best.
Kraken
Schwartz – Beniers – Kakko
Tolvanen – Stephenson – Eberle
Nyman – McCann – Burakovsky
Hayden – Wright – Eyssimont
Tolvanen – Stephenson – Eberle
Nyman – McCann – Burakovsky
Hayden – Wright – Eyssimont
Dunn – Larsson
Oleksiak – Montour
Fleury – Evans
Oleksiak – Montour
Fleury – Evans
Daccord
Jaden Schwartz leads all active Kraken skaters against Edmonton with 17 goals, 18 assists, and 35 points in 33 career games. He also leads the team with three power-play goals and two game-winners in those matchups. Andre Burakovsky sits second in points with 12 and third in assists with eight across 17 games against the Oilers, while Jared McCann rounds it out with six goals (second on the team) and 11 points (tied for third) in 23 games versus Edmonton. These guys have had our number before and are three players the shorthanded Oilers will need to find a way to keep quiet.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…
The Oilers are a difficult team to play against on most nights due to the absolutely hellacious attack they bring to the table, but their defense and goaltending? Well, one’s okay…the other definitely isn’t, and over this season, it’s been a real kick in the teeth for the Oil who’ve had to play some real back and forth hockey; they’ve dropped games to good and bad teams simply because their goaltending can’t keep up with what their skaters can dish out, and so alongside lopsided beatdowns of Utah, they’ve dropped some truly heinous games to Buffalo and Anaheim.Now, far be it from me, a Kraken fan and writer, to bring up another team’s goaltending woes, but it’s a bit more pronounced when all the skaters in front of them are so good…and now their crown jewels of production are out for a week. While the Kraken will likely have to work hard, if they can find space in the ice, they need to take these shots and get them all the way to net. If they can do that, they can start testing Pickard/Skinner…who really don’t like being tested much.It will not be an easy game, but this will be a different looking team than the one who’s been dropping 4-2 decisions on Seattle. Let’s see if they can take advantage.
TONIGHT…
Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk from Handmade by Tom
Game Day Prediction: The Oilers may be missing their two best players, but they still find a way to grind out a 4-2 win.
Obvious Game Day Prediction: The blender will be out by the second period, as Kris Knoblauch tries to find the secret sauce with his line combos.
Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: Brett Kulak scores the game winner. The Oilers need a hero, and the local boy steps up with a big goal at the perfect time.
