Even Strength Woes

After being at three Oilers games so far this year, two at home in Rexall Place and one down in Calgary at the Saddledome, I’m pleased to report that I am not a jinx and that the Oilers can win when I’m in the building. San Jose beat Edmonton 6-3. I was there. Calgary beat Edmonton4-3. I was there. But finally, last night, the boys showed a little spark. A little drive. A little, “Let’s show ‘em what we can do!” and beat Colorado 4-1. The Oilers are now 3-2 on the season, sitting tied atop the Northwest Division with Vancouver.

But, let's be honest. Five games does not a season make and there have been some fair critiques of the Oilers, even after last night’s stellar performance.

Ralph Kruger is showing that he’s the guy who knows how to run his power play. All four goals last night were scored either with a man advantage or on an empty net. That’s great news. Wonderful even. A good team should have a great power play and should make opponents worry about getting too liberal with their sticks, their arms, and their roughness. The problem is, your power play can't be the end all in a game like hockey.

The Oilers are showing their great weakness so far is their 5-on-5 play. Last night, the only Avalanche goal came on even strength. Of the Oilers' 14 goals this season, only 4 of them were even strength markers. The rookies and young guys are proving their mettle. Of the 40 total players points on the team, 31 of them come from the younger crop of players. Now, don’t get me wrong. There is the expectation with most teams that the younger guys are faster and they have a little more skill left. Particularly on the Oilers, our roster is chock full of guys in their teens and early 20s who were expected to take on the brunt of the scoring work to be done. But a long-term successful team should rely largely on one, maybe two lines for all of their point production.

You need a third and fourth line that can get a dirty goal here and there and can create some momentum. It’s not happening.

One of the great surprises last night was Teemu Hartikainen on the fourth line. He was all over the ice, providing some roughness and some heart. He came out with only one assist on the night, but he and his line (teamed up with Magnus Paajarvi and Eric Belanger) started to show fans what we need to expect from all of our lines.

And yes, this is a sort-of-subtle-but-not-so-subtle call out of our veteran third liners, Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Smyth who are both -1 on the season, the first with 2 points and the latter with 0.

Going forward, the Oilers are probably going to continue to prove to be a force to be reckoned with on the power play, and the young guys are still going to produce the most points, but they’re not going to last long if their 5-on-5 game doesn’t improve.

As a last, short little comment on last night, the after-game talk shows guys were responding to a lot of fan comments with the phrase, “Yeah, he/they’re/it’s not quite there, but don’t worry, it’ll get there.” I think it’s a fantastic phrase to put this season in perspective.

In an 82 game season, you have time to get there. You have time to get your body back into shape. You have time to figure out the chemistry between lines. You have time to drop a few games because you wanted to try something different or wanted to give a guy a chance in a new role. In 48 games, though, that time is quickly ticking away. You don’t have until the middle of February to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Yeah, we’ll get there, but we might miss the start of the show.

 

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As I play around with what I want to include in this blog, I'd love to hear some feedback. Anything you want to hear about? Any issues in the NHL (Oilers related or not) you want to read about? Anything you really like? Really hate? Really think is missing? Let me know. Leave a comment!