Pakman, Marcobello and Gordon save the Oilers from despair.

The Oilers avoided doom tonight in a game to forget. Even though they took over 52 shots and had 17 more blocked, this was a snooze fest plagued with the same old ailments of yore. Fortunately for the visitors, the home lot turned out to be everything we were hoping for and gave it up with an even weaker showing, as Fasth produced just enough fight ho hold the fort. But a win is a win. Besides, it is easier to make adjustments on a positive note than during a free fall. It still was a game to forget though.

I like Pakarinen’s play, he doesn’t look out of place, he plays hard and drives to the net, plus he has that Perron-like attitude to get under the opposition’s skin. I think he should have played more but the coaches have shown that when they are desperate for a win (and this time they were as desperate as it gets), they will only rely on a certain group to try and get it done. Most coaches do.This is the first time in the season it works for Eakins and co.

On the other side of the playing time, we have Justin Schultz, offensive wizard and supposed Norris Trophy material. The man finished the night 5 second behind Nikitin for second on TOI with 22:12 and again, on a game where the Oilers directed the puck at the Sabres net a total of 85 times (shots plus attempted blocked shots, plus missed shots), Justin had a grand total of 2 attempts, one shot and one miss. How is that even possible I have not a clue. Meanwhile Pakarinen in just 7:40 had 1 goal and 6 shots. Different positions, yes, but Schultz is supposed to be here for his offense. From the back end, only Keith Aulie had one less shot than Schultz.

I am focusing on Schultz, because he is the number one player on ice time for Dallas Eakins. The man has 6 points and 2 goals in 14 games. The power play quarter back has yet to do damage in the man advantage despite being a regular fixture in that group. The saddest part about this is that even with those dismal numbers he is still the highest scoring defender on the team. Meanwhile, again, the lights shine brighter down south with the Flames the proud hosts of the 2 highest scoring defenders in the entire league right now: Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie, one and 2 respectively, with Dennis Wideman in 11th place (as of this writing). That’s good for 13 goals and 38 points from just 3 men in Calgary with a combined plus/minus of +12. People attributing the Flames’ good fortunes to just hot goaltending are grossly underestimating the quality of their D corps. For comparison the entire D group in Edmonton, including everyone who’s suited up has 5 goals and 17 points with a combined plus/minus of -23.

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Defense turns out to be the Oilers weakest link once more. If goaltending was the main factor for a team to succeed, Ryan Miller would still be in Buffalo. Yes Fasth and Scrivens have had bad lapses, but the majority of the goals against have been the product of bad defending, both by the team and by the d men. It might have something to do with experience, after all, the 3 guys with most average ice time in Edmonton(excluding Brad Hunt who actually ranks 3rd with 6 games): Schultz, Nikitin and Petry, have a combined total of 602 NHL games. The top 3 in the same category for Calgary: Giordano, Brodie and Russell combine for 1111 NHL games. Wideman meanwhile adds 641 games of his own. For Edmonton, the second point producer in the back end is Mark Fayne, who is last in ice time of the regular d men, with only departed Nurse and spare part Keith Aulie averaging below. Fayne adds 256 NHL games to the tally and even though he wasn’t brought here to score he is still number 2 in that department from the D group. His usage if one of my harshest critiques on Edmonton’s coaching staff. The offensive separations between offensive and shut down d men are beginning to blur.

So there, agree? Disagree? What do the Oilers need more right now? A veteran top 3 d man? or a veteran top 3 center? Would one such move right the ship? In the meantime we look forward to the return of the captain against the Rangers and it will be fun to see how the musical chairs play out with the defense.

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