What Caused The Losing Streak For The Edmonton Oilers?
Many are looking for answers after the Edmonton Oilers took yet another loss in a divisional matchup to the Vancouver Canucks that saw the team get bounced from a wildcard spot.
Edmonton Oilers: This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. They were supposed to ride Ken Hitchcock’s 9-2-2 record to the glory land. But now here we are, four straight losses into a now 9-6-2 record of the Hitchcock era.
The truth is, we should have expected this. This club was turning up on the positive side of far too many one-goal games for that success to remain sustainable. And a few small tweaks that nobody has any control over along with shaky team play and the failure of depth players to step up has resulted in the four-game losing streak we now find ourselves in.
I’m going to be referencing Ken Hitchcock quite a bit in this article. Because if anyone were to have the answers to this losing streak, well you would hope it would be him.
The Impact of Injuries
Oscar Klefbom is without a doubt the Oilers number one defencemen. There’s no questioning that. So apparently there is going to be a set back when you have to slot other players into situations Klefbom would typically be utilized in.
A quote from Hitchock’s post-game interview on Thursday stood out to me, “Everything in the NHL is about slotting. Everything is about putting people in the right positions so they can have success.” (courtesy of OilersTV)
What he means by this is that when you take a player out of their slot and expect them to take on a more prominent role, it may work temporarily, but this is the NHL, and eventually, they are going to be exposed.
Hitchcock also mentioned how hard it is for this roster to absorb the loss of 2-3 guys that play critical roles in 5vs5 and on the Penalty Kill. And I don’t think there is any need for me to explain the importance of Oscar Klefbom to the team’s powerplay. Especially with the inability to replace him with anyone capable of quarterbacking a first unit powerplay at the NHL level.
These injuries and the recent record to follow them have shone a bright light on the lack of depth in the organization — depth that can hopefully be fixed with the development of prospects that appear to have the skillsets to fill the significant holes in the roster.
Absorbing injuries would also become more accessible with the emergence of younger players that can ideally start to make some impact in the bottom six forward group sooner rather than later.
Shots on Goal
Thursday’s game against Vancouver was the first time the Oilers managed to outshoot their opponent in the last seven games. Allowing 40 or more shots against in 3 of those matchups. In that same time-frame, the Oilers didn’t reach 30 shots on goal even once. How can you possibly expect to win when you go six consecutive games of not reaching the 30 shot mark.
The last-placed Los Angeles Kings are currently averaging 28.9 shot on goal per game. While the Oilers have averaged 27.8 shots per game in the month of the December, along with an average of 25.6 in their last seven games. This downward trend does not look good for the Oilers, and we should expect to see their placement in the standings follow this trend if it continues.
Shots on goal is a significant indicator of struggles in other categories such as time of possession, offensive zone starts, scoring chances, and of course… goals (along with many others). It was nice to see the Oilers take a step in the right direction Thursday by creating more opportunities to get pucks and people to the net despite taking a loss.
If one of those shots off the post found a way in the net, we would have had a very interesting game that could’ve very quickly gone the Oilers way.
Someone Has to Step Up
The Edmonton Oilers are not getting anywhere near enough depth scoring needed to make the make the playoffs. Ken Hitchcock stated in his post-game conference “If we are going to really grow, we’re going to need more participation.” And in all honesty, this is currently a team full of passengers.
Three guys cannot provide all the scoring for an entire team. Edmonton is direly missing another weapon in the top 6 forward group that can allow them to put out two legitimate lines that provide a scoring threat. As of right now, we have one complete line along with one other player in our lineup that can provide a scoring threat every time they are on the ice. Everyone else, for the most part, has been irrelevant.
Now not everyone needs to be scoring, and there are some players that are playing excellent hockey and not showing up on the scoresheet. But there is a role to be filled, and someone needs to step up.
There are a few players in particular who’s struggles on the ice have been noticeable. I would like to see Adam Larsson and Milan Lucic make quicker plays with the puck. On Thursday, both players had the opportunity to make a simple play but instead held onto the puck, eventually turning it over which resulted in two avoidable goals for the Canucks.
Lucic needs to limit the amount of those plays he seems to be making on a nightly basis, and just so happened to cost us against Vancouver. However, these kinds of plays are unacceptable right now for a guy like Larsson.
With the extended absence of Klefbom, he has to be a guy the Oilers can depend on to make quicker decisions instead of being a guy who kills the offense everytime he gets the puck.
On the other hand, it would be great if Jesse Puljujarvi and Ty Rattie could start to show a little bit more confidence with the puck. They are both extremely talented players who have the skillset to make great plays, but every time they get the puck, it’s like they have a grenade on their stick. They have the potential to be players that become offensive contributors if they can improve their possession game.
The Positives
The recent injuries have given the team an opportunity to play Darnell Nurse in an extended role in all on-ice situations. Which can hopefully help develop the young defencemen as well as give him some feedback on what he needs to improve on to take the next step and be top-pairing guy full-time?
It has also given the Oilers a chance to get a real good look at prospect Caleb Jones who has pleased many with his performance since being called up from the Bakersfield Condors. Hitchcock also mentioned that while they need more scoring from guys in the lineup, the play in other aspects of the game from young players like Jesse Puljujarvi has impressed him.
On top of this, the Oilers should be expecting a return of Kris Russel as soon as tomorrow or later on in the week. And while Alex Chiasson was placed on IR after last game, his x-ray did come out negative, so he shouldn’t miss an extended period of time. Drake Cagguilla should be back in action shortly, and it appears Kailer Yamamoto is going to get another look with the big club.
While it has been a rough stretch for the Oilers, Thursday was a step in the right direction, and if the team can muster out a win in the next couple games, they should get back on track given time. And by back on track I don’t mean 9-2-2. But consistent stretches above .500 is a reasonable expectation.
As of right now all they can do is stay competitive to keep the playoffs within reach for when Klefbom returns. It’s all this roster is capable of, and I don’t see any big moves coming that is going to change that.