As a whole, I think we can agree that this edition of the Edmonton Oilers are improved over last year’s edition and even the one prior to that. There is a semblance of structure with this team, and it appears that the forward group is good enough to take us home. It’s the defense that badly needs help, but it is coming.
Faith in management, at least for Oiler fans, doesn’t happen very often. That said, with Peter Chiarelli at the helm, I feel extremely confident in this organization moving forward. I’ll be stunned if the complexion of this team isn’t different when camp opens in September. Chiarelli’s teams in Boston had direction and balance, I expect the same here.
That said, there are some decisions that are baffling, decisions that prior coaching staffs and management teams also made. We can safely call these decisions what they are, mistakes.
Justin Schultz is quite a figure in Edmonton hockey circles. He’s got the talent to be a top-four offensive defender, but it’s never come together for him. He’s struggled mightily to produce on the power play, and his passing skills are noticeably below average. To put it politely, he has not been good as an Edmonton Oiler.
Saturday in Montreal, he may have played his worst game. The team’s first two power plays were killed when Schultz was on the ice, he turned the puck over a couple of times to set up Montreal with short-handed breaks. On top of that, Schultz again failed to set anything up offensively and was a huge liability on the defensive end.
As Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey pointed out yesterday, Schultz was on the ice for 15:35 at even strength for the Oilers, far too much. The amazing thing? In that time, the Oilers were outshot 11-0. That’s right, the Oilers didn’t get a single shot on Ben Scrivens when Schultz was on the ice.
We could chalk it up to a bad day, but unfortunately that would be a blind mistake. Bad outings from Justin Schultz are the norm and that is a fact. It’s time to hold him accountable and send him to the press box for a game or two.
As Bob McKenzie said late last week, the Oilers are trying to move him, but it remains to be seen if a fit is there. Honestly, I think we should prepare for a 3rd or 4th round pick coming back in return. It’s unfortunate, but it may just be addition by subtraction for the Oilers.
Scrivens’ Comments:
Ben Scrivens once again had Oilers fans upset on Saturday, but for a new reason. The professor shut his old team down and got his first win as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. The ex-Oilers curse is alive and well it seems.
What Scrivens said after the game also got the fans fired up. The gist of the statement was that Scrivens was only bitter about how he was treated on the way out, specifically getting buried in the AHL. Listen, I like Ben Scrivens, he’s an awesome guy and does a lot right, but he is way off base here.
I’m not going to pretend to know what went on behind closed doors, but from an outsiders prospective the Oilers did the right thing. Scrivens wasn’t owed anything but a paycheck from the Oilers. They didn’t owe him an NHL roster spot, he had to earn it.
If you recall correctly, Scrivens was one of the worst goalies in the NHL last year by SV%, we aren’t talking about Tuukka Rask here. He was outplayed by both Cam Talbot and Anders Nilsson in the preseason, it’s that simple. The Oilers didn’t bury him, they made the decision they saw best for their hockey club.
I found the comment out of line, it was out of character if you ask me. My opinion on Ben won’t change, I’m still rooting for him and think he’s one of the best guys in the NHL, but that comment struck me wrong.
Putting Montreal To Bed:
The Oilers came out flying in the first five minutes and I honestly thought they were going to roll over a fragile Montreal team. As fate would have it, the Oilers couldn’t convert any chances and then had a goal tipped past them. Game, set, match.
The Oilers need to find some consistency to their game. They won’t blow teams out every night, but with their firepower they shouldn’t be getting blown out either. Yesterday saw a lot of bad mistakes from key players and a lackluster effort from some guys. As Todd McLellan would say, there were a lot of passengers in Montreal.
Consistency is key for Edmonton moving forward, they need to find a way to achieve that. Today in Brooklyn and Tuesday in New Jersey will be absolutely key for this hockey club. Solid efforts and even a win or two would go a long way towards building confidence for this team. Efforts like Saturday cannot happen.
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