Edmonton Oilers Back To The Drawing Board
The Edmonton Oilers offered up a poor performance at Rexall Place Thursday night. The 5-2 loss to Vancouver brought back to earth any of us who thought this team was further ahead than it really is. But at the same time: It IS pre-season. I’m not searching for the nearest ledge, over this set-back, and nor should you be. 9 Things:
9. It’s early, and I can and will be patient. But so far, Mark Letestu does not look like much of an upgrade over Boyd Gordon. I know Letestu is younger, healthier and historically has brought more offence. But Gordon did a few things (again, so far) notably better than his replacement. We’ll see.
8. It will be a real bugger if Anton Slepyshev gets sent down, because he has played well enough to make this team, and the Jordan Eberle injury has opened up a door for someone like him. He has the skill to play Top 6, and the grit to play a complimentary role. It looked, tonight, like he really wanted it. Arrows up.
7. The guys on either flank of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins really fought the puck tonight. I’m a little more forgiving of Teddy Purcell, as he’s just back from injury. But Benoit Pouliot should be close to mid-season form, and even his usual excellent speed was off a half-step. Neither is Jordan Eberle, that is clear.
6. Connor McDavid was not as terrific tonight as he was against Arizona Tuesday, but still quite good, the 1st Period in particular. I did notice that he was often the last guy on his line off the ice, most of the night. That needs to be corrected, or really good NHL players will find a way to expose it.
5. What does Todd McLellan do with his goalies? Anders Nilsson has been his best in pre-season, Ben Scrivens second-best, and Cam Talbot the “worst” of the 3. McLellan has to come back with Talbot Saturday, because he should be the starter, and there are only 60 minutes left to tune up. But it’s a log jam.
4. I mentioned Connor McDavid earlier. He, Leon Draisaitl and Taylor Hall were excellent in the 1st Period. Dangerous, every shift. Then, McLellan swapped Draisaitl with Slepyshev…and the line really fell off after that. I think the coach wanted to try Leon on his other wing. Ok. You’ve tried it, Todd. Don’t do it again!
More from Oilers News
- 3 Oilers Players Who Should See An Expanded Role In 2023 And 1 Who Should Not
- 3 Oilers with the most to prove this season
- Edmonton Oilers Name Jeff Jackson CEO Of Hockey Operations
- How Long Will The Edmonton Oilers Wait To Sign Evan Bouchard?
- Edmonton Oilers Sign Ryan McLeod, What’s Next?
3. Nail Yakupov was the best Edmonton Oiler on the ice, tonight. He scored a goal scorer’s goal to tie it at 2, at the end of the 1st. And he had jump all night, was shooting the puck, battling hard along the boards, never out of position in any glaring way. He needed a good game…and got one. Good on him.
2. Justin Schultz was the best Defenceman on the ice, and all-in-all has had an excellent training camp. Again, the biggest difference I notice is his intensity. It’s most obvious on the Power Play, where he is back to using his speed to make the neutral zone smaller. He lollygagged through the N-Zone the past few years. Not now. Especially on a shaky night for the D-Corps like this one, it’s a relief to think that Schultz may have found a cure for his yips.
1. But apart from Justin Schultz, there was not much to cheer for on the blue-line. Andrew Ference was on the right side of the puck most of the night, took the body well and cleared the slot of errant pucks. He did, to be fair, have some puck moving issues, but that’s never been his calling card. But when your D-partner has as bad of a night as Nikita Nikitin did, it’s bloody impossible to look good. Nikitin was atrocious. I mean…Griffin Reinhart had real issues tonight, Eric Gryba looked lost and Andrej Sekera, for pity sakes, was terrible. But if you were to pick one D-man tonight who a Griffin Reinhart deserves to stick over, it’s Nikitin. Makes you wonder what Scott Howson was drinking when he helped engineer that deal. Dear, oh dear…that is one, hot mess.
Well…there are a few things to work on.
If it makes you feel any better, if (when) this team plays considerably better in the regular season, this nasty little nightmare will made from memory. But for now, yeah, it’s gonna keep me up at night.