Edmonton Oilers: Three Reasons The Team Got Swept
The Edmonton Oilers got swept out of the first round over a week ago now, but honestly, there are still a few more things we have to say about it.
While this was a tough loss to watch, the Edmonton Oilers did play some pretty good hockey throughout the entire series. The Winnipeg Jets got the better of the Oilers in game one, and they were not able to find an answer the rest of the series.
I think the biggest reason the Jets won was the fact that they shut down Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Sure the two led the team with five and four points respectively, but all around the top guns were always trying to get things done with guys defending them so closely and so many opportunities were missed because of tipped shots and just great defense on their end.
The Jets rallied together and fought as a team, it didn’t seem like the Oilers did that, and now they go into a long off-season wondering what they can change for next season.
Personally, I believe there are some players the team should add to take this group to the next level. If they can elevate their lineup then they should be good. I mean in reality, they were a couple of bounces away from winning all of those games, so this series could have looked completely different with even a few extra guys and maybe after not re-signing a few as well.
So let’s get into three reasons the Oilers were swept in round one.
1. Lack of Depth
This should honestly go without saying. The Edmonton Oilers did not have the depth that the Winnipeg Jets had. Draisaitl and McDavid led the team in points during the playoffs and after the two of them, the best a player had was two points.
Nine players on the team did not register a point through the series, and while yes that is understandable during a four-game series, some of these guys had to be more effective.
Offensively the team road Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the two were on the ice more than any forward, and defensively it was Tyson Barrie and Darnell Nurse. The Oilers need to do a better job splitting up the ice time and making sure they trust their third and fourth line guys to play. Obviously, the team is going to want to double shift McDavid during a close playoff game, but if the coach cannot trust the other players on the team then why even dress 18 guys for the game?
2. Great Goaltending
Connor Hellebuyck did his job. He shut down the Edmonton Oilers in four straight games posting a .950 save percentage and a 1.6 goals-against average. I kept saying that the Oilers needed to make things more difficult in front of Hellebuyck and I still stand by that.
Edmonton is a team that rushed into the offensive zone and fired a shot towards the net trying to get goals off the rush. If you want to score on Hellebuyck you need to get players in front of the net and rely on some deflections and gritty play in front of the great goaltender.
Honestly, both goalies were great in the series Hellebuyck was just on the winning side. Should Edmonton of won this series we probably would be talking about how good Mike Smith was in getting the team four wins.
Great goaltending and a lack of depth has hurt the team before, and the third reason might be the biggest issue this team has.
3. Bounces
The Edmonton Oilers just cannot get a bounce. No matter what the situation is the team was not the luckier of the two. It might sound silly but bounces do really matter in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The better of the two teams usually win, but bounces do play a major factor.
Winnipeg won three games in overtime. A couple of those overtime goals were great, but they also were pretty lucky goals. A screen by the Oilers on Mike Smith led to an easy win for the Jets, and so many times they just were not getting the bounces they needed to pull through in the end.
Yeah, the Oilers should have been a lot better in this series to the point where it shouldn’t have been close, but it was close. It was so close that a few bounces going the wrong way ended up costing them the series.
This team lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in a very similar way last summer. Now they will be entering the 2021-22 season hungry to win. However, the golden opportunity that was the North Division is gone, and now the Oilers will probably be back with their Pacific Division rivals.