Edmonton Oilers 6-4 Carolina Hurricanes. The Morning After

After losing the last two, of three games to start the season,. The Oilers needed a win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Everybody knew it wasn’t going to be easy, facing one of the best NHL teams, but if the Oilers want to be playing hockey in June, they have to be prepared for a matchup like this.

And thanks to a great Ryan Nugent-Hopkins night, the Oilers managed to get their second win of the season (2-2-0 now) and give the Hurricanes their first loss (3-1-0)

But what was better with the Oilers from two last two losses, that made the team be good against a Stanley Cup contender and finally get another win on the season? Let’s follow on the topics below:

The Oilers Started Playing on the First Faceoff

FINALLY the Oilers were the first one to open the score, with a Zach Hyman’s goal 8:22 into the first period. But not only that, the Oilers were the better team through the first 20 minutes, putting offensive pressure on the Hurricanes, and the score could be even bigger after the first period.

The Oilers has to keep playing the whole 60 minutes like last night, and can’t always rely on his powerful forwards to  win the games. There is a Brazilian proverb who says “Comeback wins are tasteful” (De virada é mais gostoso). But no team in the world in any sport plays like that. The Oilers had that problem last season, and were getting to it again.

Oilers Forwards

What a game from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. he had a 4-point-game with one goal and three assists. It was his sixth game with four points, and he almost tied his personal NHL record, which is 5 points in a single game (November 19th, 2011. Vs CHI).

In exception of the third Oilers’ goal, scored by Evander Kane, he was present on every other Oilers goal on regular time, even if it was on the Power Play, Short-handed or on 5-on-5. Yesterday he moved from the third line and get more ice time with Draisaitl and Hyman. And if it worked against the Canes, it can work against other NHL’ teams as well.

Connor McDavid with a “quiet” game was able to finish with a 4-point-game as well, having one goal and three assists, just like Nuge. and with that he already has 11 points on only 4 games. Seems that Connor winning the Art Ross trophy once again is a good bet to do.

Other Oilers forwards who had great games were Ryan McLeod, who scored a beautiful goal Short-handed and shows everyday that Edmonton should’ve signed an extention with him. He may get to 20 goals this season if he keeps playing like it and at one point of the game, he had 81 xG% and scoring chances were 6-1 with him on ice.

Besides him, Zach Hyman and Jesse Puljujarvi had good games, and they needed one like that after the Oilers playing the Flames and the Sabres. They created chances, helped on both ends and proved they can get more ice time.

The ones who could be better were Evander Kane and especially Kailer Yamamoto, McDavid’s teammates on first line at the start. With Woodcroft playing 11-7, they won’t be always playing together. An example of how good this is for the Oilers, Nugent-Hopkins got 21:38 TOI, when Yamamoto got only 18:08.

Oilers Defense and Jack Campbell

When Jack Campbell was pulled after the fourth Calgary goal on last Saturday, a lot of Oilers’ fans thought about the instability of the team on goal with Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen. But that’s not a fair comparison because every goalie on every team can have a tough night. But if it was any doubt, Campbell showed he can be a great and trustworthy goalie, with 36 saves last night (.900 sv%) and having great saves on great moments, just like the one below.

About the defense, since the third period against the Sabres it has been improving, and played good against a team who most certainly has playoff level.

It was perfect? Of course not. But they were better, and seeing an improvement is the most important thing now in the beginning of season. They could’ve taken care better of Andrei Svechnikov, who scored a Hat-Trick and now leads the NHL on goals.

His first goal could’ve been avoided by Nurse and Ceci giving less space to him, and the second one Barrie could be next to him. And everyone watching the game hold their breath with that bad turnover from Ceci on the last moments of the match. But those are things the team will take into consideration into practice and always be better.

What is next for the Oilers:

The Oilers still doesn’t know what it is to play in other arena that isn’t the Rogers Place in Edmonton. Going to their fifth straight home game, the Oilers will face another team who didn’t lose on the season yet.

It’s another difficult game, but Edmonton showed they can play with every NHL team and fight for the win. Let’s hope to keep seeing an improvement on the defense, that the offense keep being spectacular as always, Jay Woodcroft doesn’t have to put McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line like the two first games, and the Oilers can start playing on the opening faceoff again.

And to see how important it was the win against the Canes, the team will arrive for this match in an excellent mood. If the Oilers had lost to the Canes, it would be an even more important match. But lucky for us, this is not a scenario he have to think about.