Thirty Beers In…

The playoffs… The Oilers are one point out of the playoffs… ONE POINT! Can you believe it? After the first 10 games the Oilers sat at 3-7-0, after the second 10 games the boys were at 7-12-1; now we’re sitting at 13-15-2. Ground control to Major Tom, it’s official…

We’re visually better.

It took 30 games but everything is happening! All of those moral victories are turning into actual victories that mean something in the standings and not just in the hearts of the fans and Oilers optimists everywhere.

What Has Happened Since Game 21?

• Taylor Hall is the best left winger in the NHL… Again! In the past I haven’t been the staunchest of supporters for Hall but I haven’t seen these kinds of performances from an Oiler since Connor McDavid went down. Just kidding! Or am I? He’s got 10 points in his last 10 games.
• Leon Draisaitl is going to be one of the best centers in the NHL sooner than later and when that happens the Oilers will have made it. He’s putting up better numbers than a lot of elite NHL centers like John Tavares, Henrik Zetterberg, Steven Stamkos, and Sidney Crosby. Leon has 9 points in his last 10 games.
• The bottom six have stayed healthy and have started to chip in. Korpikoski, Letestu, Gazdic, Pakarinen, and Hendricks have all scored since game 21. What is Anton Lander doing? Surely he’s got to be on his last legs as an Oiler if he can’t resume the form he showed at the end of the 2014/15 season.
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is rounding into form again. He is driving the net again and he’s rushing the puck through the neutral zone with authority. His face-off percentage is only .451 but in his last 10 games the average is .482. If not for those sorry games against the Hurricanes and the Maple Leafs, that number would be much higher. He’s motoring along with 5 points in his last 10 games.
• The Oilers have taken some serious hits in the injury department. Pouliot and Yakupov joined McDavid and Klinkhammer on the IR thus removing the a complete line from the team.
• Mark Fayne was demoted to Bakersfield. The fancy stats guys are scratching their heads because the numbers don’t add up and the armchair GMs are scratching their heads because they’re wondering why it wasn’t done earlier.
• Jujhar Khaira was called up and has been fair to midland in his appearances so far. He’s providing the meat and potatoes to Nuge and Eberle’s line. He’s had some lovely hits and even had a tilt versus the Sharks.
• Griffin Reinhart was sent down. It was the right call and he probably should’ve been in the AHL from the beginning of the season.
• Throughout all the injures and call-ups, the Oilers have seemed to be able to weather the storm. Could we be thanking Craig MacTavish more than we think in a year’s time when some of his draft picks are playing regularly for the Oilers?
• Anders Nilsson has thrust himself into the starter’s role after saving the Oilers’ asses on more than one occasion in the latest 10 game block.

The Numbers

At the time of writing these are some stats that stand out a bit for me:

• The PK and PP are in 15th (up from 22nd) and 13th (up from 15th) place respectively.
• The team is 21st in shots/gp.
• #7 in shots against/gp… Allowing over 30 shots a game is not a great recipe for success.
• #10 in blocks.
• #3 in giveaways… Woof!
• #5 in takeaways… Well if you’re going to give the puck away, you’d better be good at getting it back.

Team Leaders in TOI:

• Oscar Klefbom – 21:53 (Is this the Seabrook-like horse we’ve been waiting for?)
• Andrej Sekera – 20:52 (Rej is starting to round into form. Good news!)
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 20:31 (Not a surprise here. Nuge has always been good for major minutes.)

Top Three in Points:

• Taylor Hall – 14g 20a 34pts (The Kingston Cannonball is in top form!)
• Leon Draisaitl – 9g 17a 26pts (The German Gretzky is playing all sorts of awesome!)
• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 7g 13a 20pts

Top Three in Hits:

• Matt Hendricks – 61
• Darnell Nurse – 51
• Eric Gryba – 49

Top Three in Blocks

• Oscar Klefbom – 62
• Andrej Sekera – 49
• Eric Gryba – 41

After Ten Games What is This Team Lacking?

At the beginning of the season I believed that the team was lacking a true no.1 or at least a top pairing defenseman. I’m not so sure anymore. Of course I’d love to see the team acquire a more experienced upgrade on the back-end but I don’t know if the team needs that $9M per year defender. I look at a team like the Dallas Stars and I see their top pairing (Goligoski/Klingberg) and it makes me wonder if the Oilers are closer than we think to having the defense that will allow us to compete for a playoff spot on an annual basis.

I think the team is showing that it can keep up with the big boys but it needs work when it has the lead. At least twice in the last week the Oilers had a lead that they couldn’t hold on to. I put that down to a lack of experience and inadequate personnel. I’m now of the belief they could use a little bit more two-way talent in the bottom six.

My opinion is that Mark Letestu and Anton Lander aren’t going to cut it in the no.3 hole and as soon as McDavid is back the Oilers are going to be even more green. With that said, one of the more underrated parts of Connor McDavid’s game is his defensive game. He’s a very very good checker, stick and body. His hockey IQ, skating and stick checking make him a very dangerous player on the defensive side of the puck.

The Next Ten Games

Boston (a) – The first of a b2b I think the Oilers will be in tough to win this one but the Bruins are below .500 at home. I’ll take a win here.
New York (a) – I believe Cam Talbot will start here and he’ll be colder that a witches titty. The Rangers are on a pretty bad skid at the moment (2-6-2) but I reckon Lundqvist will get his revenge on Edmonton for chasing him last time around. Rangers for the win.
Chicago (a) – The Blackhawks are always a tough call for me. They’re great at home and I think they’ll take advantage of a tired Oilers team. Hawks will be the victors here.
Colorado (a) – The Avs are turning a corner and I think this will be a great game. I’ll take the Oilers because I believe there are still some question marks in Colorado’s net and on the blueline. MacKinnon vs. Hall… Should be a beauty!
Winnipeg (h) – Last game before the holiday break and I reckon we’re going to see some fireworks. There’ll be goals and there’ll be some scrapping. I’ll take the Jets here though.

I will make a bold prediction though. We’re going to start to here the rumors of McDavid’s return around this time. Christmas Day will be his 7th week out and I’m thinking either home to the Kings or home versus the Ducks is when we’ll see 97 back. Not only him but Yakupov too… A wonderful start to 2016, no?

Vancouver (a) – Does anybody care about the Vancouver Canucks anymore. Oilers win.
Calgary (a) – Latter half of another b2b. I like the Oilers chances here too. The Flames are on a nice little winning streak right now but I doubt they’ll keep it going for another couple of weeks. Chalk one up in the ‘W’ column for Edmonton.
Los Angeles (h) – 97 returns? Maybe? If so, we’ll see a great tilt. A tad reminiscent of the old Islanders vs. the upstart Oilers back in the early 80’s? I’ll take LA on this one though. They’re back with a vengeance this year.
Anaheim (h) – What is going on with Anaheim? Does Boudreau make it to Christmas? I’ll take the Oilers here.
Arizona (h) – The Coyotes are playing themselves out of a wonderful storybook ending/beginning with hometown boy Auston Matthews being the consensus no.1 pick in the upcoming draft. I’m hoping that Mike Smith is having an off day but Arizona has been kryptonite to the Edmonton’s Superman lately. But I’m going to take the Oilers on this one.

So that’s six wins and four losses if everything goes to plan. It should be a pace that keeps in them in the playoff race. We’re due to see a completely healthy roster in this next ten game spread… Hopefully. I’m jacked to see what a 100% healthy roster can do with this Pacific Division in ruins. The Oilers could very well be this year’s outlier. They shouldn’t be but I imagine that is how it will be spun if they do in fact make the playoffs.

Until then, take care everyone! Happy Holidays!

BLH
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