Good morning Oiler fans and a good morning indeed. After steamrolling over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, the Edmonton Oilers were once again able to find their scoring touch against a weaker team in a 7-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Just like against the Anaheim Ducks the Edmonton Oilers got out to an early lead and they never looked back. Connor McDavid got the Oilers on the board first with a powerplay goal. This was the captain’s NHL-leading 36th goal. McDavid went on to add another later in the second period to bring his season total to 37.
This total of 37 put him 5 goals of the second place, David Pastrnak. McDavid is having his best season when it comes to goal scoring and I couldn’t be happier to see it. I think the main difference in his game this season is he is coming and shooting the puck from distance more than he was before.
Not to be outdone by McDavid’s 2 goals and 1 assist, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were able to put up a goal and 2 assists each in the 7-1 victory. It’s nice to see the top guys get some points when the Oilers win these big wins.
Edmonton Oilers Pros
This was another game the Edmonton Oilers on paper should have won and they did. Here are a couple of points that I liked from last night’s game.
- They kept the shot total low. If Skinner can’t make it to Vegas in time for the game tonight I would start Jack Campbell again tonight again. He only got 26 shots last night. That’s a fairly light load, he should be good to go again tonight.
- After a disastrous effort on the penalty kill against the Kings, the Edmonton Oilers have killed their last 7 penalties over the past two games.
- Top players getting rest due to the blow-outs. In games when the Oilers are losing McDavid and Draisaitl played upwards of 20 minutes. Last night they played over 18 minutes.
- Due to the more spread-out minutes, the depth of the Oilers was able to get goals. Both Puljujarvi and McLeod were able to score goals late in this game.
- When the Edmonton Oilers powerplay is rolling this team is almost unstoppable. Right now they are on point. Last night they went 2/4 so hopefully, they can keep going at the pace they are now.
Edmonton Oilers Cons
Just like against the game against the Anaheim Ducks there isn’t much bad about the game last night.
- Jack Campbell didn’t get the shutout, early in the third period a shot from the point got deflected on its way to the net finding its way through Campbell’s legs.
- The Edmonton Oilers only won 35% of the faceoffs, I would like to see this number be much better and closer to 50% at least
The Edmonton Oilers are back at it tonight as they face the Vegas Golden Knights. This game will be a lot harder to win than the last couple. Vegas is top of the Pacific, but they are struggling as of late and the recent news of the Mark Stone injury isn’t going to help them out.
If the Edmonton Oilers want any hope of having a home-ice advantage in the playoffs they need to start stringing together some wins. They won two in a row hopefully, they can move that to three tonight.