On Thursday, the Edmonton Oilers snapped their six-game losing skid by getting their mojo back against the Blue Jackets.
The game featured the team erasing almost every single mistake they were making during the losing streak. Jesse Puljujarvi found his hands again, scoring twice to lead the arsenal on the night (although to be fair the team, in general, had gone cold during the losing streak).
The PP clicked, which had come crashing back down to earth a bit (not that you’d expect much differently when it’s running at a historical 40%+), courtesy of both the goals from Puljujarvi. The Jackets deviated from what by now is a well-known script for success against the Oilers – stay out of the box.
The bottom six contributed, when Brendan Perlini – of all players – had a goal and an assist in one game, after giving us goose eggs the entire season up until now. I had him pegged as a less than useless player up until this one. Maybe he might still be as this might be the last game for a while he hits paydirt – or it could be the start of a productive streak of secondary offence for the fourth liner. Derek Ryan also scored for the Oilers, his second point all season and his first point in exactly two months to the day. Kassian also got an assist on Perlini’s goal.
Nice to see the bottom six contribute this much, which it hasn’t done much too many nights even when the team was winning. Warren Foegele scored the last one, but he was subbing in for Zack Hyman in this game so in my books, he’s a temporary top sixer right now.
It also helps that our D corps are almost 100% healthy – and that we have key players in Nurse, Ceci, and Keith back in the lineup. Kris Russell was a good soldier, but if everyone was healthy he’d be a part-time third pairing guy – and predictably after all the minutes he had to play he became the next man on the list to get injured.
Koekkoek is still out in addition to Russell, but at least our fortunes won’t hinge on his health as third pairing guys are eminently replaceable.
We got to see some of our best prospects on D and where they are, but after having to fill in for a little too long – and being forced to play big minutes against opposition they weren’t used to – they predictably fell off the map a bit. What else would you expect when we had no choice but to throw them in the deep end?
Still, I like the potential I saw in Philip Broberg, and you should too. Our prospects coming up will likely mean we won’t have to recycle Duncan Keith on a cheap contract two seasons from now.
Markus Niemelainen is still up and is filling in quite nicely on the third pairing with a combination of physical play and good defensive instincts – especially for a guy in his NHL debut. He’s at -2 right now, which is very good for a guy who’s played less than 10 NHL games.
I expect Niemelainen may push the now past-his-prime Kris Russell off the roster after this season, as the two play a very similar game. Not as good a shot blocker yet, but give him time and I’m willing to bet he will be.
The PK also improved a little as the Oilers kept the BJs to 0% – zero for three – on the PP.
All of these elements were missing during the losing skid.
The only thing that’s still missing are two key ingredients – the McDavid/Draisaitl duo aren’t scoring at their usual torrid pace. Both were limited to only a single assist apiece on Puljujarvi’s goals. That’ll come organically with time. These guys are too good not to get their hands back.
The other piece of bad news is now the injury bug has shifted to the forward corps. Zack Hyman has been out for two games, including the second last one against his former team the Maple Laffs. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was also placed on covid protocol this week, so that left side is looking awfully thin right now with both key top sixers out on that side. Bottom sixer Ryan Mcleod is also out on covid protocol – which is too bad because he was looking like a solid piece for the bottom six.
Mike Smith is looking like he might come back soon, which is bittersweet news in my books because it means that Stuart Skinner will have to go back down to Bakersfield. How Holland can justify re-signing Koskinen and letting Skinner walk after this season I have no idea. Hopefully, it is the other way around.
I’d be very surprised if Skinner wasn’t on the roster next season unless he completely implodes from here on out.
The team did it on Thursday – and let’s hope this is the start of something good. During the losing streak, the Oilers fell from second to fourth in the division. Fortunately, they’re only two points out of a playoff spot, so I’m not even thinking about counting them out just yet.