Oilers Response Is Lacking

After winning six games in a row, the Edmonton Oilers were in a position to finally make a push for a playoff spot after a nine year absence. Not many people actually expected the Oilers to make the postseason, but being in the chase would be a solid improvement for the club. They were right there in the middle of December.

Fast forward two weeks and things have fallen apart. The Oilers lost their streak in New York against the Rangers and have since become a train wreck. Edmonton has gone 1-4-1 since then is now crashing back towards the bottom of the standings. Their next three opponents? Los Angeles, Anaheim and Arizona, three teams that have absolutely dominated the Oilers recently.

This has potential to get ugly really, really quickly.

I wrote on twitter the night that the Oilers lost to the Rangers that it was no big deal. Teams lose games, it was going to happen. The key, I wrote, was how Edmonton would bounce back. I said they needed to avoid a losing streak and that we would learn a lot about them by their response. It has not been good.

After losing in New York, Edmonton turned around and get destroyed by the Chicago Blackhawks and Colorado Avalanche. Edmonton was overpowered and, quite frankly, outworked by those two teams. Look back at the highlights, Edmonton made countless sloppy mistakes that either ended up in the net behind them or as a chance against.

Yes, they beat Winnipeg, but the Oilers were absolutely outplayed in that game. In Vancouver on Saturday night, they got bailed out big time by their goalie, outplayed and lucky to get a point. Sunday in Calgary? Played arguably their worst hockey of the season in the second and third period, resulting in a blown lead and a 5-3 loss.

Edmonton is now four points out of a playoff spot and has played two more games than Arizona, Calgary and San Jose, all teams directly in front of them. It is a very tough spot, and Edmonton put themselves there with their recent poor play.

Edmonton losing games is understandable to a degree. They are still a work in progress and have a number of key injuries. What is not understandable is the recent response by this club. After having their winning streak snapped they have gone back to their old ways, committing baffling mistakes and folding when the going gets tough.

That is the kind of response that previous teams in Edmonton also had. That was not supposed to be the case this season. If I sound disappointed, that’s because I am. We’ve seen so many things improve with this group this season, but their response to losing has not been good. They don’t have that needed battle level on a nightly basis and there are far too many passengers.

What makes it worse? There are far too many veteran passengers. That’s a bad sign for Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan.

Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have been two huge passengers as of late, and it’s hurting Edmonton. I’m not sure if it is because they are hurt or what it is, but these guys need to play better. Both are strong NHL’ers, good players, but their play right now is just not good enough and that needs to be addressed.

The defensive play has been bad too. Justin Schultz leads the way in soft plays and terrible mistakes that end up in the back of the net. It’s quite difficult to watch, honestly. This unit is not good enough and also doesn’t battle very hard. It’s a soft group and their response to adversity is quite disturbing.

Edmonton is a team that rides the wave of emotions, and it is showing right now. After a great winning streak, it appears that the group has fallen back into their usual tricks. Poor play, numerous passengers nightly and no real push-back when the going gets tough.

I said that we would learn a lot about these Oilers from their response to losing a game after their streak. Well, based off of how they have played recently, I think we got our answer. The Oilers are still a fragile team and can’t handle adversity.

Once again, another winning streak has been followed up with an equally bad stretch of play. This is both highly frustrating and alarming.

Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli have lots of work to do, still. Addressing how this team responds is chief among them, because this is still a major, major problem in Edmonton.