Edmonton Oilers Defence Suffered Greatly in Loss to Kings

The Edmonton Oilers dropped their chance to move closer to the Pacific Division lead, dropping a 6-4 decision to the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday.

Though they stayed strong and continued playing tough, they let down their guard at times and struggled. In fact, the poorest play came from the backend. The defence left Cam Talbot out to dry and was unimpressive in all aspects.

Edmonton Oilers

First off, the combination of Darnell Nurse and Matthew Benning failed to impress. Both put up a minus-3, and Benning didn’t get to 10 minutes of ice time. During the second period, they were on the ice for the Kings’ offensive outburst and couldn’t handle it.

The Kings came out for the second period with plenty of physicality and speed, and the defence let them get right past and put shots on goal. The defenders also got lazy with the play, and the soft coverage of Los Angeles led to them taking great advantage. There wasn’t a lot of defensive awareness or urgency, which ruined the Oilers in the end.

This is not a good look for the team, especially considering their impressive play of late. Edmonton needs to capitalize on all three periods and know how to carry a 2-0 lead. It shouldn’t be a completely different hockey game moments later, with the team being greatly outworked by the opposition.

Additionally, the team took poor penalties and also failed to maintain possession of the puck or handle the pressure from Los Angeles. There were plenty of mistakes, and no one truly stepped up on the backend to rectify them. Adam Larsson had four PIM by the end of the night.

Considering the Oilers have beaten greater competition in recent play, this game shouldn’t have been difficult for them. They must remain confident and consistent, maintain possession of the puck and step up to handle pressure when it starts to come on.