Edmonton Oilers Run Out Of Steam Versus Nashville

The Edmonton Oilers, Saturday, looked like a team, dogged by injuries, and on the last of a 5 game in 8 night stretch. It sure did not look that way after the 1st Period. Little did we know that a 4-1 loss was shaping up. But the team had a terrible time creating momentum and once they DID have it, they couldn’t keep it for long.

9 Things:

9. Anton Lander has struggled all year. But on a night when his team arguably needed him the most, he did worse than struggle…he was a passenger. When Todd McLellan saw the Pouliot-Eberle-Yakupov trio being picked apart, he gave Lander the chance to be a difference maker on that line. You barely noticed him. Something has to give.

8. Taylor Hall skated miles. But aside from the primary assist on the Draisail goal, he didn’t end the night with much at all to show for it. That is despite playing 20:11 (3 seconds behind Draisaitl among the forwards) and posting a Corsi of 77%. The two chances he did get were from from a ways out and not major threats.

7. For everyone who would have traded Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, do you now see the value the player brought to the lineup every night? I don’t fault Benoit Pouliot, he’s not a natural center, and Mark Letestu, Matt Hendricks and Pouliot were all batting higher in the order than they should be, at the pivot position tonight…and it showed.

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6. Related to the absence of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Benoit Pouliot (who was playing out of position so I cut him some slack), Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov didn’t piss a drop. The Predators were able to key on the Draisitl trio because this line barely scratched out a 50% possession rate. Eberle managed 1 shot, Yakupov none.

5. The pairing of Justin Schultz and Darnell Nurse was reunited on Saturday night, led the team in ice-time (Schultz was 22:15 TOI, Nurse 21:23), and both of them were absolutely fed by the Nashville Predators. Schultz was shaky early, then Nurse opened the 3rd by allowing Mike Fisher to the net, on a soft play to make it it 3-1 Preds.

4. Leon Draisaitl was the Edmonton Oilers best forward on the night. He scored a beauty of a goal in the 1st, with a power move to the inside, before deftly backhanding the puck into the top corner to make it 1-0. His possession number were spectacular (a Corsi of 77%), despite playing against Shea Weber and Roman Josi most of the night. Named the game’s 2nd Star.

3. There were two turning points in the game Saturday. First, the 2nd Nashville goal, on the 4-on-4. It was a complete fluke. Not only did Cam Talbot and his teammates lose the puck…so did all of the Predators, and pretty much every fan at Rexall Place, including me. No one saw it until Talbot inadvertently nudged it into his own net. I’m a pretty good lip-reader: The referee later explained to Todd McLellan that he could see the puck, even though thousands could not. If if that was the case, well then he made the right call.

2. It was still 2-1 when Andrej Sekera came up with the puck after an extended scramble in the Predators zone. He made a veteran play, found his angle, found the net, and fired. Clang! Off the crossbar it went, and then out. I detected a visible slump on the ice, and on the bench when that happened. The entire rink thought it was in (my whole section stood), including the shooter. But when a team is tired and beat up anyway, missing a golden opportunity like that one can be soul-crushing. And it was.

1. With all due respect Leon Draisaitl, though, the best player on the ice for the Edmonton Oilers tonight was Griffin Reinhart. In 18:33 of TOI, the freshly recalled rookie led the team in Hits with 5, Shots with 4, was +1 and had possession numbers that a seasoned D-man would be proud of (Corsi of 65%). Now…yes, it is just 1 game. But I’ve really been dismayed by the criticism directed by segments of the fan base at this player and his General Manager. Until those picks turn into something (or not) you have no idea whether Peter Chiarelli paid too much. In the meantime, judging a young, 1st Round draft pick this harshly at the 20-game mark of his career is short-sighted, to say the least. I remember watching Jeff Petry‘s 20th NHL game with the Oilers. Shudder. He was terrible. Terrible. And he turned out o.k.

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The Skills Competition is at Rexall Sunday. Connor McDavid will be back, and the club has a chance to rest, heal, and try to hit the re-set button when they return from the All-Star break on February 2nd.

Although it is possible they are so far back at that point, that 30 games will not be enough to make up the deficit.

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