If there’s one thing the Oilers are good for, it’s letting their opponents dictate the pace of play.
It’s been an issue in Edmonton for years, and one they had seemingly gotten out of their system a lot during the course of the 2023-24 season and their deep playoff run.
Thursday night it was on full display, however, as the Minnesota Wild came to town. Their bread and butter? Forcing other teams to play their game, and that’s what they did with success as they rolled to a 5-3 victory. Despite the Oilers getting an early lead when Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury misplayed a puck, Edmonton wasted it quickly, as Matt Boldy would score halfway through the first period. Minnesota never looked back.
The Oilers’ compete level all night wasn’t where it needed to be, getting outworked in all three zones and most importantly the blue paint, where Minnesota scored all five of their goals from.
“All the goals are five, 10-feet away from the blue paint, and I don’t think we did enough to get there and defensively, we didn’t do a good enough job boxing out,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch after the loss. “We lucked out the one goal that was offside turned back, but they had a couple opportunities there.
“Even when they pushed Skinner into the net, that shouldn’t happen… We got to be better there.”
It’s not as though this issue is just apparent in the defensive zone for the team, however, as the team has been seemingly allergic to crashing opposing creases. Veteran winger Corey Perry said the team has found themselves “trying to be too cute, playing the perimeter game,” while Knoblauch was much more scathing in his comments, essentially saying too many players are trying to be like their highest-skilled players.
“We obviously have some incredibly skilled players who can make those plays, and when you’re playing with those guys and you see them doing it, sometimes players get mistaken identity and try that extra pass, that play on the perimeter, rather than shooting for a rebound, getting to the net, little things like that.”
Publically available data suggests the issue isn’t as crucial as it may seem, with the Oilers giving up among the fewest high-danger chances and goals against in the league, but what the numbers do show is their save percentage on them is among the lowest in the league. When your goaltenders aren’t able to make the saves required, it becomes a whole other issue.
Stuart Skinner, simply put, hasn’t been good enough this season, but Calvin Pickard hasn’t been able to offer much reprieve, either. Among 42 goaltenders who have played as many minutes as Pickard has, who has played in eight games to Skinner’s 14, their save percentages rank among the lowest in the league:
When asked after the game about Skinner’s game, specifically, Knoblauch’s answer was applicable to the Oilers’ game in front of their goaltenders as a whole.
“He’s not playing the level he was last year,” he said of Skinner. “I thought from the time I got here last year, he was one of the top goaltenders and if he had a bad game, it was turned around the next night.
“I think overall, for a goalie to play well, it’s got to be predictable. We got to be more predictable for him in what kind of shots are we giving up, where are they, and take away the high-danger shots, like tonight. That’s not a predictable game for a goaltender to turn his game around.”
Edmonton’s loss felt similar to that of theirs earlier in the week against the Montreal Canadiens, where they looked lifeless for most of the affair. The team bounced back one night later against the Ottawa Senators with a big win, and will look to do the same Saturday against the New York Rangers, before they see a five day break in their schedule.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
