Edmonton Oilers: Four overreactions to the game 1 loss

Power Play

Much has been discussed about the Oilers first power play unit boasting 5 left-handed shots. While I understand the logic of loading up the first unit, having five lefties together makes it harder than it has to be.

So much of power play setups is about finding the open seam to set someone up for a one-timer. By having everyone shoot the same it cuts the Oilers opportunities to do so in half. That makes it easier for teams to defend it. The best power plays in the league keep it simple, and this set up is everything but that. To many moving pieces to make it work. The threat of a right-hand shot would open everything else up.

The best power plays in the league keep it simple

The lone PP goal the Oilers was because of the work of Mcdavid going end to end to set up Lucic. The other opportunities it looked stagnant with everyone standing around not sure of what to do.

Decisions need to be made quickly on the power plays with essentially every team running an aggressive style penalty kill. When players are questioning where to go with the puck, that’s not possible.

The Oilers seem to be overthinking many aspects of the game right now. Mclellan would be best served to simplify the PP, by splitting up the units more evenly. The first unit with Mcdavid would still get the bulk of the time, by adding some right shots to it would open chances up for all the players involved.