It's always good to remind one's self not to get too excited about positive preseason results, just as you shouldn't worry overly much about any negatives. The Edmonton Oilers won handily over the Winnipeg Jets last night, taking the lead in the first period and holding it throughout the contest, capturing a preseason victory. But while that win doesn't earn them any standings points, the game itself provides a few areas for optimism.
Scoring early
New Oilers defenceman Ryan Shea, a pick up in free agency, scored from the front of the net after a pretty nice deke got him in close, uncontested. The game was only 6:52 minutes old, and Shea's goal brought the game back to a tie. A Mike Babcock coached team should show up prepared and ready to play, and the common issue in previous years, where the Oilers frequently gave up one or more early goals before finding their rhythm, hopefully goes away. But the response was there, and Shea's goal opened the floodgates.
Granted, the team still allowed that first goal of the night. Since it's preseason, we won't dwell on it for too long, but Max Jones definitely could have hustled back a little faster on the initial goal against.
Physical play
Jones was tied with Colton Dach with five hits on the night, so his impact on the game wasn't limited to the goal against. Vasily Podkolzin had three hits, Alex Formenton two, and a few other players record at least one hit. Comparing that with the Jets, who didn't have a single player record multiple bodychecks, and we see a potential link between the physicality and the final score.
It isn't the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but both lineups had numerous players looking to crack the Game 1 roster, and the Jets' side definitely underwhelmed when it came to physical play. If Edmonton retains such a dominant advantage in the "Hits" category, teams will have more than one reason to fear a trip to Rogers Place.
Lots of shots
The Oilers recorded 28 shots on net, leaving Jets netminder Thomas Milic with an ugly .852 save percentage. They're not going to score five goals every night, but targeting 30 shots or more is a good approach. With NHL goalies often boasting save percentages in the .900s, the average NHL team scores less than one goal every ten shots. If you want to win consistently, you need three goals, which the math tells me equals out to 30 shots, on average.
Of course there will be nights where a goaltender stands on his head, and others where everything seems to go in for the Oilers, but sustained shot pressure means you're in the offensive zone, forcing the opposing netminder to work, and the puck is about as far from your own net as possible.
The Oilers are just getting started, but there are lots of arrows pointing up!
Add us as a preferred source on Google