The Edmonton Oilers are heading into tonight’s big road game against the Winnipeg Jets hoping to get their first back-to-backs wins this season. It won’t be easy but one thing that’s been evident over these past few weeks is that the Oilers have a huge weakness so far in the grand scheme of things.
When a team like the Oilers is still struggling but slightly improving when it comes to Power Play scoring, it’s imperative they come right out the gates red hot at the start of hockey games. When the Oilers score first or at the very least, have a lead, they seem to handle that more in stride than when they have to play catch up.
The Oilers tend to not start off hot in the 1st period and usually have ended up down a goal or two. Then, they start to heat up in the 2nd and then bring it home in the 3rd with hopes of tying or winning but obviously, that hasn’t always been the case this season. If the Oilers are to do well tonight against the Jets and especially in a few days when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs at home, this needs to change.
The Edmonton Oilers need to change things up in the 1st period
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If the Oilers can get on board first and continue doing as well as they do in the 2nd and 3rd periods of hockey games, they will undoubtedly start to separate themselves from opponents. Of course, it won’t be easy, but the talent is there.
All head coach Dave Tippett has to do is make the necessary roster changes and change up the offensive gameplan in the 1st period and the sky is the limit. Doing this will help them out not just against the Jets and Maple Leafs but for the rest of the season that awaits.
Teams that attack first, score first, and then continue putting the gas on the pedal throughout the game, tend to leave victorious. Of course, the Oilers still have to work out some kinks to address this but for now, it’s definitely their biggest weakness so far as a team.
Hopefully, as the season progresses, the Oilers continue to take care of business. It’ll be very interesting to see with the roster changes made ahead of tonight’s game against the Jets if they were made for this very reason of not getting ahead early in hockey games.