Edmonton Oilers: Examining the 3-Game Win Streak
The Edmonton Oilers have had a rollercoaster of a season but now are in a midst of a 3-game winning streak. With the loss of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins due to injury, can the Oilers maintain this winning momentum?
Last Saturday night, the Edmonton Oilers nabbed their 21st win of the season defeating the Vancouver Canucks 5-2. Even though this team is far from where they want to be in the standings, maintaining a winning momentum is probably the next best thing.
With the crushing news on Friday that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would be out at least a month due to injury, the Oilers needed to step their game up and did just that. What has transpired after their latest win against the Canucks seems to be a team that could be trending in the right direction?
With the Edmonton Oilers losing their top scorer due to injury, all eyes in the hockey world have been fixated on the second line. Depth has been the Achilles heel for this team this past year. If Saturday night can give us any indication that guys like Leon Draisaitl and Jesse Puljujarvi can pick up the void left by the Nugent-Hopkins’ injury, this team can finally turn the ship around.
It is tough for many Oilers fans to be optimistic for a team that was a Stanley Cup favourite, but it’s the struggles that shape the make-up of the team. Either the team perseveres or crack like an omelette egg.
Penalty kill
The biggest weakness that has hurt the Edmonton Oilers this season has been penalty killing. Talk to any Oiler fan or media personality covering the team, that’s the biggest gripe they have with this team. Last year this team was ranked 18th in the league in that department and this season has been dead last in the NHL.
The good news for Oilers fans is that during their 3-game winning streak, they have a 90 percent rate which is good for 5th in the league. Even though it’s a small sample (being short-handed 11 times and allowing only one goal), the players understand all too well that they have to do whatever it takes to keep the puck out of their own net.
The Oilers have also allowed 85 shots on their own net in this win streak, which is somewhat of an improvement compared to what has transpired this past season.
This team is making a conscious effort on defence and making the forwards rush back to their defensive zone and be really intelligent on their back checking.
Improvements
Improvements that need to be made would have to be capitalizing on the power plays and face-offs. These two departments need to be a priority moving forward. In these last 3-games, the Oilers have managed only 7 power play opportunities and have won 40.4 percent of their face-offs. They are at the bottom of the league in both categories and it’s something that needs to be remedied by taking a different approach.
Next: Oilers Fell in the Cammalleri Debut
The Oilers are known to be a team built by speed and skill but it’s only displayed in the first two lines of the offence. The entire team needs to also take an aggressive approach in order to open up power play opportunities and win some face-offs as well. The Edmonton Oilers are trending in the right direction in this current win streak, but they have a lot to work on for the rest of the season.