Groundhog Day For Edmonton Oilers In Arizona

By Kurt Leavins |

Leon Draisaitl

The Edmonton Oilers are absolutely snake-bitten against the Arizona Coyotes. Arizona is now 19-0-4 in their last 23 games against our guys (Thanks, Bruce McCurdy). It’s just unreal. There’s no reason to be upset with the effort from the Oilers tonight, but another loss in another losing season does start to ring a little hollow for everyone after a while.

9 Things:

9. I strongly suspect the shot counter in Arizona is on the take. The ice was severely tilted in the 3rd Period, in the Edmonton Oilers favor. Yet the official count was 7-7? Hmmm.

8. Zack Kassian played his unique brand of hockey tonight: Agitation, mixed in with skill that can compliment Top 6 players. He was particularly strong when elevated to the line with Taylor Hall & Leon Draisaitl.

7. But man, is Taylor Hall stone-cold right now. He played 20:31, skated miles & played hard on the cycle down low. His was the best line all night. But with the tying goal on his stick in the 3rd…he missed the net. Sigh.

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6. The duo of Darnell Nurse and Adam Clendening got absolutely fed tonight. Their possession numbers were dismal (21% & 24% respectively). To my eye, I felt that most of that was on Nurse’s partner. But that pairing is AHL-quality…right now.

5. Cam Talbot allowed a bad rebound on the Coyotes first goal. Hard to hack on Talbot, he’s been the best of the Edmonton Oilers for weeks. But that first goal put the Oilers behind the 8-Ball early, and they were never full able to recover from the early setback.

4. The Hockey Gods really do hate the Edmonton Oilers, don’t they? Ryan Nugent-Hopkins absorbed a heavy hit behind the net early in the game and did not return. In my opinion, the hit was hard but clean…Nugent-Hopkins taking the brunt of the defender’s shoulder to the head.

3. Griffin Reinhart had the kind of night not out of the ordinary for rookie D-men in the NHL. For all but one shift, Reinhart was an absolute force tonight. Played with a chip on his shoulder, registered spectacular possession numbers (Corsi of 63%) in an impressive 23:35 TOI. However, a missed assignment on Tobias Rieder on the 2nd Arizona goal (that was absolutely on him) will stick in many minds. His partner, Jordan Oesterle, played 27:01, BTW!

2. Connor McDavid was just dynamite with the puck tonight, creating over and over and over again. He earned two assists for his efforts, which were substantial, and could easily have had more. He was among the team leaders in Corsi (62%) and DID lead them in shots (5), over 18:49 TOI. The blemish on his game was the lost face-off in his own D-zone that led to the Coyotes winning goal.

1. Leon Draisaitl was the best of the Edmonton Oilers tonight, even though he didn’t register a point. But he did have 4 shots, distributed the puck very well, and was a damn monster on the cycle in the Arizona end. Draisaitl was also a solid 50% of the face-off circle, a skill that to my eye he is starting to gain command of. I’ve said it many times…to have a pivot with this size and skill is a gift from the Hockey Gods. I’m genuinely excited to watch him the next few years.

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Todd McLelland is right. His team isn’t quitting. There was an abundance of fight and battle in their game, tonight, particularly in the 3rd Period, when the Edmonton Oilers were the best team by a fair margin.

Problem is: This road trip gets a LOT tougher for them. Their character will be sorely tested yet again.

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