The Edmonton Oilers take on the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow in Winnipeg at 6 pm, Mountain Standard Time.
After winning three games in a row, the Oilers promptly lost three games in a row. Consistency is a concept that seems to allude this edition of the Edmonton Oilers, but I still do not feel that it is going to be a massive collapse.
I will say this though: The game against Toronto was the worst game of the season since the 6-2 loss against the Buffalo Sabres in October. It was a lifeless effort with only one player showing up for the Edmonton Oilers.
The underlying numbers for the Edmonton Oilers range from decent to good, just above average in some regards. You should check out Charting Hockey on Twitter for some neat graphs.
Yet, there is a definite sense of panic against the Jets due to mainly how boring the Oilers have looked. It hasn’t been fun hockey. The Oilers have looked lifeless against the Coyotes and the Maple Leafs, two teams they should beat. Instead, they are now third in the Pacific Division and trying to snap another losing streak.
Keys to the Game
1. That 0/24 Power Play needs to stop.
Right after I give the Power Play some credit in my Studs and Duds, they have a power outage against teams that are not great at killing penalties. Simply put, 0% is bad. The Oilers need less bad and more production from anyone not named Connor McDavid or playing with Connor McDavid. I think it starts here.
2. Secondary Players need to wake up
Benoit Pouliot is pointless in 14 games and since entering the line up, the Oilers have started to lose games. Surely, that’s not a correlation. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been trying (had a good shot go off the cross bar vs Toronto), but just can’t buy a goal on sale. Jordan Eberle, Patrick Maroon, Jesse Puljujarvi are all not producing in some degree. I’m willing to give Puljujarvi a pass here because he is a rookie, but Maroon hasn’t scored in his past eight games. Zack Kassian is pointless in his last twelve. Matt Hendricks did nothing in the two games he played against the Coyotes and the Maple Leafs and was a scratch for one of them.
3. PLAY PITLICK AND SLEPYSHEV
Both of these guys need to be in the damn line up. A slow Matt Hendricks in over a producing Tyler Pitlick is not helping the Oilers win hockey games. Ever since the Oilers rotated Pouliot (again pointless in his last 14) and Hendricks for Slepyshev and Pitlick, the Oilers have stopped scoring and stopped winning games.
Sure go on about how Pitlick’s shooting percentage isn’t sustainable (it isn’t) but these two guys deserve a shot, especially with the Oilers in another skid. Get it done.
Starting Line Ups: Edmonton Oilers
Lucic-McDavid-Draisaitl
Pouliot-Nugent-Hopkins-Eberle
Pitlick-Caggiula-Slepyshev
Maroon-Letestu-Puljujarvi
Klefbom-Larsson
Sekera-Russell
Nurse-Benning
Talbot
I like this line up a bit better, but still some puzzling choices. Pouliot (pointless in his last 14, just to keep count) is now on the second line. Maroon and Puljujarvi fall to the fourth line. I do like however, Draisaitl with McDavid and Lucic.
Starting Line Ups: Winnipeg Jets
Ehlers-Scheifele-Laine
Wheeler-Little-Stafford
Tanev-Lowry-Dano
Connor-Kopp-Thorburn
Morrissey-Byfuglien
Chiarot-Trouba
Stuart-Postma
Hellebucyk
Who To Watch
Edmonton Oilers: Connor McDavid
The best player in the NHL, McDavid currently leads the league in scoring with 31 points, currently holding a five point lead over second place, Mark Scheiffle of the Winnipeg Jets. He was the only player to show up against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he had another multi point game. The team can’t have one player doing it all, but McDavid is pretty capable of doing it anyways.
Winnipeg Jets: Mark Scheifele
As mentioned above, Scheifele is currently second in league scoring, with 26 points. The big centre taken in the 2011 draft, has turned out extremely well for the Jets as he continues his torrid pace from last season. In his last 96 games, Scheifele has 87 points. Not bad at all for a guy who raised eye brows when he was drafted in the first round.
Prediction
The Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1. Patrik Laine gets another goal, but the Oilers respond with three of their own from Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl and Drake Caggiula gets his first ever NHL goal.
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