The Edmonton Oilers could have won their last two hockey games against the Kings and the Wild. If they do that, they are 5-5, not 3-7. Alas, the Oilers did not win, and they now sit with a 3-7-0 record and their next four games at home. Sweep the leg, and they’ll be .500 heading back out on to the road. Lose all four and, well, this season will be wrapped up early yet again.
The upcoming four game homestand is absolutely key to the Edmonton Oilers season. I truly believe that the Oilers will get better as the season goes on, that Todd McLellan’s system will sink in and that chemistry will be built. Improvement will happen as the season rolls on. I said it before the year, I expect a strong second half from this team.
That said, if a strong second half is to mean anything, then the Oilers need to hang around .500 for the first half of the season, they need to find a way to make the games mean something in January and February.
That starts with this four game homestand, it’s a key moment in the season for the Edmonton Oilers.
The Road That Awaits:
The Oilers will host four teams in this homestand, and it’s safe to say that all are beatable right now. It starts tomorrow night against the Montreal Canadiens, a key match-up for the team. Edmonton has had success against the Habs recently, and for some reason matches up well with them. That said, Montreal is 9-1-0 and firing on all cylinders.
The comes Calgary, a struggling team. Edmonton dominated the Flames about a week and a half ago, and now they get them on home ice. Not to be bold here, but this is a must win game for Edmonton. Calgary is struggling mightily and Edmonton has to win some games within the division, this is a very winnable game.
Next Tuesday brings the Flyers to town, an up and down team that Edmonton seemingly always splits the season series with. Philadelphia is playing inconsistent hockey right now, and is weaker defensively. This will be a tight game, but it’s also winnable if the Oilers can play their style for 60 minutes.
Lastly, next Friday night, the Oilers host the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first McDavid Vs. Crosby showdown. Edmonton has always played the Penguins tight, and Pittsburgh isn’t exactly playing great hockey right now. Are the Pens the better team? Absolutely they are, but this is also a winnable game for the Oilers.
Yes, all four of these games are winnable for the Oilers. Three of the four teams coming in aren’t exactly playing great hockey right now, while Edmonton has seemingly always matched up well with the one that is playing good hockey right now. It’s not an overly favorable slate of games, but it’s also not murderers row coming in here.
What Would Be Successful?:
I think a successful homestand for Edmonton would be a 3-1 run here. That would push the team’s record to 6-8-0, manageable at this stage of the season. Even if the Oilers tread water here and go .500 on this homestand, 2-2-0, then that would be acceptable. Anything less has to be considered a failure.
With four games that are potentially winnable on home ice, the Oilers have to find a way to take advantage of that, they can’t afford to throw these games away. They’ve already thrown away solid efforts in Minnesota, Nashville and against Los Angeles for whatever reasons.
Let’s call 2-2-0 the bench mark for success on this homestand and let’s shoot for a 3-1-0 run here, okay?
Final Thoughts:
I really don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Edmonton goes 3-1-0 here. They had a ton of success against the east last year and Calgary is struggling massively right now. Those six points would put Edmonton in a decent position heading out onto the road and would give them some much needed momentum.
I’ve been impressed with two aspects of Edmonton’s game, the goaltending and the forwards. Cam Talbot has looked very good for the Oilers, while the Pouliot-McDavid-Yakupov and Hall-RNH-whoever lines have been terrific for the Oilers.
I wrote about it this morning, but Edmonton’s defense is just killing them right now. The rest of this roster is good enough to win, I really believe that. The inability to move the puck out of the defensive zone and the continuous poor mistakes are just killing this club. Can’t have that when you are playing so many good hockey teams night in and night out.
My question for you, what is your measure of success on this homestand, and what do you expect the Oilers to do in these next four?
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