Evan with Connor McDavid, the Oilers are experiencing a slow start to the year.
Let’s be honest, the ’94 Twins should never have lost to the Mariners in that wildcard game. Sure the M’s had Griff, but c’mon, the Twins were rolling hot with Lou Collins and riding the smoke trail of Jim Bowers all while being orchestrated by the young boy-mind of Billy Heywood. That team was robbed.
Sometimes good teams lose. Okay, more than sometimes. Take for instance the Edmonton Oilers. This is a team that was given top-tier Cup-winning odds before the season started. For good reason, too. They were coming off their first playoff appearance since the 2005-06 season, narrowly losing to the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. Pretty impressive stuff.
Oh yeah, and they also house this kid named Connor McDavid who may or may not be the best thing since a fella strolled into the league straight outta Cole Harbour. Things appeared to be turning around, right?
Hockey, of course, is composed of much more than one great player, however. Yet it’s the moves the Oilers have made in the past couple seasons and the way in which this has translated into on-ice success that suggested the team’s inevitable rise into the echelons of relativity.
And yet the Oilers, their fans, and in all reality the hockey world are somewhat surprised to see them currently posting a sub-par 3-7-1 record through 11 games.
This was a team that was trending upwards, building off experience and only getting better? What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is happening? It feels as though the Golden Knights and Oilers could swap records and the world would make a little more sense at the end of the day. Alas, here we stand.
Well, believe it or not, even with 97 in the lineup, the Oilers aren’t scoring. It’s almost backward, as many pundits believed the Oilers’ biggest hurdle would be keeping the puck out of their own net. While moderately still holding truth, the Oilers haven’t been terrible defensively for the most part. Thus far this year the Oilers hold the 13th ranked goals-against (3.27).
Their penalty-kill? Yaaaaa, that’s another story completely. They currently rank 30th in the league at 68.3%. For the record, first place is the L.A. Kings at 93%. So yeah, they have some room for improvement. A little bit of a gap there…
But back to the offense; the aspect of the Oilers that was supposed to be as dangerous as JCVD-spin kick. Instead, the Oilers are looking like a punch-drunk Ken Shamrock trying to wrestle on one last ankle lock.
The goals are simply not coming for the Oilers. They are last in the entire league in average goals scored at 2.18, which is a far cry from Tampa’s ass-kicking 4.08 per. The Oilers have only scored more than three goals once so far this season, potting five against Dallas in a 5-4 win. More on that, they have actually only scored three goals twice this season, once during their season-opener in a 3-0 win against Calgary and another in a 5-3 loss to Carolina.
“But, but, Draisaitl,” you say. True, the German was on the shelf for four games – three of which losses. While doing his part scoring eight points in seven games, the Oilers have only one win while he has been dressed for action. Turns out the dreaded McDavid/Draisaitl combo isn’t exactly cutting the mustard.
But do I think the Oilers can rebound? Sure. Winning streaks happen all the time. It seems Pittsburgh is good for a 15-gamer every year. But thru 11 games, the numbers don’t lie. They sit seven points out of a wild-card spot, and with the parity in the league, those points are not gained easily – especially when you’re averaging a hair over two goals per game. It’s going to be an uphill battle, and no matter how great your franchise player may be, he can’t do it on his own. Time to start converting on those chances, Oilers.
