Oilers Return Home, Was Road Trip Good Enough?

The Edmonton Oilers will get two days off before returning to the ice on Friday night when they host a Dallas Stars team that will play Thursday in Calgary. The Oilers will only get two games at home before they head back out on the road for three games, taking us to the final stretch drive of November.

Through five games this month the pace of the Oilers has slowed a little bit, but that isn’t much of a surprise. The club has amassed five points through five games, and so far has posted a 2-2-1 record. The wins, a back-to-back set over the weekend in Brooklyn and Detroit, saved the first road trip of the season from being a disaster.

You can also make the case, like I will, that the Oilers deserved a better fate in the three tilts they did not win. A poor play in the final moments by Benoit Pouliot cost them at least a point in Pittsburgh, while Matt Benning’s last second turnover in New York had the same effect.

While the Oilers managed to go .500 in terms of points accumulated (five of ten) the club easily could have had seven points on this trip. Alas, it was not meant to be and the club comes home with an eight point cushion on a playoff spot and a five point lead in the Pacific Division.

Did They Pass The Test?:

Prior to Edmonton’s game in Toronto against the Leafs, I previewed the road trip and wrote that I felt six points was the line in the sand. Obviously Edmonton didn’t reach that mark, but I thought overall the club played pretty well. They played well enough in both New York and Pittsburgh, against two of the NHL’s best, to win those games. I thought last night was an especially promising effort from the local team.

The Oilers won a pair of games against teams they should have beat, and nearly took down the Maple Leafs a week ago. Like I said, I felt Edmonton played well enough to get six or seven points on this road trip. I thought they were the better team in Pittsburgh and I felt they deserved at least a point in that effort. In past years, we usually don’t get a chance to say that.

I wouldn’t say Edmonton passed this test with flying colors, but they did enough to keep fans feeling positive and seeing the good in this team. Battling all night to beat the Islanders was impressive, while holding the fort down and beating the Red Wings the next day, in a ‘scheduled loss’ was really impressive.

Like I said above, I was genuinely impressed with the effort in Pittsburgh and I thought they did enough in New York to win. They Oilers showed us a few things on this road trip, and one of those things is that this club is much improved.

What Held Them Back:

One of the things that kind of concerns me is the mistakes this team still makes. I really like the tandem of Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson, but they made a lot of mistakes during this trip that led directly to goals. They were responsible for three goals allowed against the Rangers, and Klefbom made a few poor mistakes last night in Pittsburgh.

That pairing does a lot of good things, but they have to cut down on the single moments that cost this hockey club. Both defenders are young and are learning, but I expect them to improve. This road trip, I thought, was a struggle at times for those two and it directly impacted Edmonton on at least two nights.

Milan Lucic, who was strong offensively this road trip, also caught my eye in a negative way a few times. I thought the game in Pittsburgh was his worst as an Oiler, and he directly contributed to the goal against by Conor Sheary that opened the scoring. His half-assed play against Rick Nash in the dying seconds of the Ranger game was also a play that caught my eye.

I’m a Lucic fan and think he’s a great fit for this club, but Milan has to cut down on the mistakes and the turnovers. I expect that he will.

Final Thoughts:

I’m conflicted here, because I feel like the Oilers left points on the table and that could haunt them as the races begin to tighten up for both the divisional crown and the playoffs. That said, the Oilers were in every game during this road trip and played well enough to come out with six or seven points. 2-2-1 isn’t anything to write home about, but does represent an improvement over years past in these situations.

The Oilers, to my eye, played well on this road trip. That’s enough for me to call this a moderate success that keeps the team in a decent position. This month is extremely tough and getting 15-20 points should be seen as a good thing. The club, as of now, is on track to hit the low end of that total.

There were good signs on this trip and, overall, Oiler fans should be happy with the result knowing that there is still room to grow and improve. I’m getting closer to declaring this as a true turn north, as our friend Lowetide would say.