Though it's very likely temporary, the Edmonton Oilers ended Wednesday's NHL action as the top team in the standings. Only one of the two next-closest teams, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild, have played fewer games than the Oilers.
It wasn't the easiest road to the top spot in the standings, but the Oilers got there. Despite losing a 2-0 lead against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Oilers were able to get the Flyers to overtime and earn a 3-2 victory.
On top of becoming the likely-temporary league-leader, the Oilers were the third team this season to cross the 30-point mark; the Wild and the Hurricanes were the first two teams to reach that mark.
Here are the key points from the Oilers' win over the Flyers and where they stand heading into a six-game road trip.
A solid defensive and structural game from Philadelphia was met with an equal effort from Edmonton
Rick Tocchet is one of my favorite coaches in the NHL. That is a statement I am willing to stand by.
Not only does he know how to make a team competitive (we just saw this last season with the Flyers and for a few seasons ago with the Vancouver Canucks), but he also plays a very defensive style of hockey.
The latter factor was something his Flyers brought to the table on Wednesday, but the Oilers were well equipped to respond with their own defensive effort. Whereas the Flyers were able to position their defensemen to respond to any potential rush opportunity from the Oilers (minus a shot from Jason Dickinson that hit the crossbar), the Oilers were able to withstand Philadelphia's sustained offensive pressure and their ability to get the puck up the ice off of turnovers.
The offensive pressure was a common theme for the Flyers throughout the game, and it could have easily ended up giving them a few more goals. Such offensive pressure did come as a result of their ability to play defense and create turnovers, though that point can also be extended to the maintenance of their pro-chaos on-ice structure even when the Oilers built their 2-0 lead.
That said, the Oilers were able to find ways to mitigate the sting of the Flyers' offense as the game went on. The most effective method saw them try to stretch the ice and give the offense a chance to create a little more in the way of scoring chances. That strategy ultimately yielded some positive results, particularly during the second period. Those positive results included Zach Hyman scoring the Oilers' first goal of the game and a string of post-midway-mark scoring chances.
The Oilers once again found themselves stuck in their own end at several points during the latter stages of the second period and for much of third period. That said, they were largely bailed out by Tristan Jarry and their ability to get the action towards the boards, which was where the team won a good handful of puck battles. And as that period went on, the Oilers were able to once again use the success of their defense to power the offense.
One has to give credit to Tocchet's Flyers for making this a game, but it's fair to say that the Oilers were up for the test. What's more is that they aced it.
Monday was just another hiccup for the special teams unit
The Oilers fared quite well when it came to putting together their special teams performance on Wednesday.
While the Oilers gave up a goal in such a situation, they were nonetheless able to generate some momentum of their own from both the power play and the penalty kill. Hyman's aforementioned goal came after a penalty kill, while his second came during the Oilers' sole power play opportunity of the hockey game.
By the end of the game, the Oilers navigated three of the Flyers' four power play opportunities and did quite well to create some short-handed opportunities. At one point, the Oilers generated a three-on-one rush while on the penalty kill, but the resulting shot was not converted.
The power play might still be the far stronger special teams unit, but one can assume that the penalty kill is doing their best to figure things out.
It's all about doing the little things right
Structurally-sound hockey teams aren't just capable of forcing mistakes, but they can also make teams pay for said errors.
The Flyers showed that level of potency on Wednesday, forcing numerous defensive zone errors and capitalizing on their speed to unsettle the Oilers in their own third of the ice. An early-game turnover well inside the Oilers' zone led to a minute-long possession for the Flyers, while a questionable second-period tripping call on Jarry came on a rush opportunity that was led by Noel Acciari. Tyson Foerster ultimately converted that power play opportunity to close Edmonton's lead to a 2-1 margin.
But even with the questionable nature of the tripping call in mind, which came from Jarry moving his stick across the crease while he was attempting to follow the puck and respond accordingly, it was still called a penalty. That call, which was one that could have gone either way, cost the team in that moment.
The Oilers were able to benefit from some misplays on the part of Philadelphia, particularly offside calls that ended up slowing the Flyers' momentum and misplayed passes that allowed the Oilers to maintain a little more of a presence in the offensive zone. But this is still something that also costs the Oilers; that 50-50 nature was on full display during Wednesday's contest.
Let's talk about the shots on goal count
This was something that infuriated me during the first half of the game.
But now that I think about it? I don't think the Oilers fared that terribly.
The Oilers were getting outshot 21-8 at one point, and it seemed that the Flyers were controlling much more of the offensive opportunities than what the scoreboard suggested. But from the halfway mark onwards, the Oilers found their footing in terms of scoring chances, ultimately outshooting the Flyers 16-11 the rest of the way. That said, the aforementioned 16-11 margin included a 9-4 third-period advantage for the Oilers.
At times, this is an area of the game where the Oilers have struggled to find much footing. But their second-half form in that regard proved that they can still control the game both in terms of goals and scoring chances.
What's next?
The Oilers will begin a six-game road trip on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. when they head to the shores of Lake Ontario to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first meeting between the two teams ended in a 7-2 win for the Maple Leafs, but the Leafs have since lost six of their following seven contests.
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