For the first time this season, the Edmonton Oilers have lost in regulation.
A 4-2 decision against the tough Utah Mammoth ended Edmonton's point streak at six games, while their winning streak following the season-opener reached five contests.
Let's take a look at the four biggest points from the Thursday night contest against the Mammoth.
The shots on goal count represents a potential disaster in the making, but the Oilers are nowhere near the edge just yet
The Oilers had a very good start to the season when it came to keeping teams from recording a high amount of shots on goal.
It's safe to say the Oilers are now being brought down to earth in that regard. To add insult to injury, the Oilers haven't really looked like the best of teams when it comes to creating shots on goal.
Against the Mammoth on Thursday, the Oilers created just three shots on goal during the first period of play. They would only add another four shots on goal before the midway mark of the game, though they would win that metric 11-9 in the second period.
I will add that the Oilers looked far better in the shots on goal metric during the third period and in terms of their ability to maintain offensive zone pressure. The Oilers also had 12 shot attempts blocked by the Mammoth throughout the game, which could very well have made things a little easier for the Oilers in terms of creating offensive zone pressure. On the minus side, the Oilers got a little too passive during the final two minutes, both figurative and literally.
Those struggles have helped keep games close, even when the Oilers look like the far better team. And with no counter, the Mammoth's ability to pull clear of the Oilers went relatively unattended for much of the game's opening 40 minutes.
Good checking and board battles help Edmonton keep pace with a fast Mammoth team
The Mammoth are a fast hockey team. Such was proven on their first goal of the game.
But even when considering the Mammoth's ability to frustrate Edmonton with their skating, the Oilers did well to make their presence felt. Whereas the Mammoth won a handful of the open-ice chances, including two fast-break chances that ended up in the back of the net, the Oilers looked like the better team along the boards.
In doing so, the Oilers were able to slow the Mammoth down by making them win board battles to retain possession. Going the other way, Edmonton used the boards to force the Mammoth to concede quality scoring chances and penalties; that strategy eventually yielded stretches of time in the offensive zone and a goal from Leon Draisaitl that allowed the Oilers to (temporarily) halve the Mammoth's lead.
Even though the Mammoth were the better team going up and down the ice, the Oilers' ability to slow the game down and bog the Mammoth in their own end should be seen as a positive heading into the rematch on Saturday.
Special teams play a double-whammy for the Oilers. Not in a good way.
We've seen the Oilers take significant amounts of penalties at a time; an example of this came in Edmonton's contest against the Anaheim Ducks.
While it didn't necessarily hurt the Oilers at that point, the penalty-conceding certainly did against the Mammoth, who scored on two of their three power play opportunities. Two of those power play chances were part of a four-minute opportunity that was conceded by Josh Samanski.
On top of an end-of-game six-on-five, the Oilers also had two power play opportunities of their own. They didn't convert on any of those three opportunities.
Formenton - Michaels - Joseph line still a positive
The Oilers' bottom-two forward lines have generally looked quite good throughout the opening games of the regular season. That is especially true with regard to the duo of Alex Formenton and Mathieu Joseph, both of whom were with the Ottawa Senators five years ago.
The two have been able to give Mike Babcock a portion of a stable forward line to this point in the season, and they proved just that on Thursday. Owen Michaels was placed on the same line as the two forwards; him and Joseph would end up assisting Shakir Mukhamadullin's first goal as an Edmonton Oiler. Though Formenton wasn't credited for the goal, he did draw the delayed penalty that allowed the Oilers to throw more pressure at the net and eventually score off a deflection from Andrew Peeke.
Michaels has had his own struggles when it comes to stringing points together, but the line combination that he is involved in is doing wonders for the Oilers. Don't be surprised if Babcock uses the trio to start games more often as the season continues.
What's next?
The Oilers will conclude their home-and-home series with the Mammoth on Saturday. Puck drop at Delta Center is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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