The Edmonton Oilers have given up leads in half their games this year, seven out of 14. They’ve gone on to lose four of those games, to Calgary, the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers and, on Monday night, the St. Louis Blues.
It was the third game in a row that the team has been unable to clamp down on things and hold a lead, though the Oilers did rebound to beat Chicago in OT.
Game 1: Oilers give up three goal lead, lose 4-3 to Flames
Game 4: Oilers give up one goal lead, lose 4-2 to Islanders
Game 7: Oilers give up two goal lead, but beat Senators 3-2 in OT
Game 8: Oilers give up two gaol lead, but beat Montreal 6-5
Game 12: Oilers give up two goal lead, lose 4-3 to Rangers in OT
Game 13: Oilers give up two one goal leads, but beat Chicago 3-2 in OT
Game 14: Oilers give up two goal lead, lose to Blues 3-2
Edmonton has just 15 points in 14 games, this after making the Stanley Cup Finals two years running.
The Oilers have been mediocre this year. And for the first time in any significant way, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch is on the hot seat in Oil Country.
Edmonton isn’t out-scoring opponents, 3.1 goals per game for and the same 3.1 goals per game against, nor is it significantly getting more Grade A shots, 14.1 per game for the Oilers, 13.3 for the opposition.
Last year they were +3.2 per game for Grade A shots, this year it’s +0.8.
coach 14 games
This has all put Oil Country in a foul mood, with fans and pundits wondering what exactly is going wrong with this team. The anger reached a zenith as the Oilers gave up a two goal lead to lose in the last 90 seconds to the struggling St. Louis Blues, a team on a seven game losing streak.
Here is some of the flavour of the online discussion, as Edmonton’s lead evaporated and fans questionned the coach like never before:
Oilers blogger Jackie Bondurant JB 🇨🇦 @JackieBee_16
Why is it so g**damn difficult for this frickin team to hold onto a lead?
Oilers fan Jeremy McKain @jeresells
Our D is backing in so far it’s embarrassing.
Oilers fan Sumit Tripathi @Sumit_Tripathi_
Is the lack of offensive structure jarring to others too or is it just me?…I honestly can’t remember the last time we significantly outchanced the opposition…Knoblauch hockey. 50 mins of nothing happening
Oilers fan Finn 🇨🇦 @oilersjayscan
And that’s what happens when you give a team life. Your lead vanishes in five minutes… again. Not losing yet, though, let’s get it back!!!… Same old story, I’m afraid. Playing well until one mistake or stupid penalty completely turns the game around, and wham! Lead gone in five minutes or less due to another defensive breakdown. Need to respond in the third or else we can miss another winnable game goodbye🙄
Oilers fan Tim Chander 🇨🇦🇺🇦 @YEGBikeDad
Another blown lead. Come on boys!
Oilers fan EasternOiler @DieHardOil
Edm management is still trash and not proactive enough. This team has had a real GM worth anything since Glen Sather.
Oilers Daily @oilersdailyy
i don’t know how many more times i can watch darnell nurse throw a floater on net and kill the play
Oilers fan Shaedon @Shae_Nuge93
Make a damn save Pickard
👽@oilygifs @oilygifs
why are you as connor mcdavid passing it to ty emberson expecting him to score
Oilers blogger Bruce Curlock @bcurlock
That’s not how they draw up “good net front defending” by Bouchard.
Oilers fan Finn 🇨🇦 @oilersjayscan
Annnnnnd there it is. Another blown win. And this time we won’t even get a point. Nice job not covering the rebound, Pickard🙄
Cult of Hockey writre David Staples @dstaples
Bouchard soft as butter on winning goal. And there is no goal if Draisaitl does his job and checks or angles Schenn coming through the neutral zone. All 5 players made mistakes on the ugly winning goal, Bouchard’s the worst of them.
Daily Hive hockey writer Preston Hodgkinson @NHLHodgkinson
Oilers offence is way too stale, the goaltending is iffy, and the defence is leaky…. There are problems on all three fronts in Edmonton… Not acceptable to leave without at least point in this one… Blues were reeling with seven straight losses, Oilers had a multi goal lead… and they completely let off the gas. I feel like a broken record, but something in strategy has to change
Hockey podcaster Austin Hockey🍁🇨🇦 @AustinHockeyYT
With the Oilers hemming the Blues in their zone for 50+ seconds, and McDavid on the ice, Edmonton attempted 4 shots on goal, all from the blueline. Knoblauch has KILLED this teams’ offense. …
My two main thoughts after this game:
-Pickard is unplayable right now
-Knoblauch is becoming a major problem
Tier Two Oilers Fan @tier2fan
What a pathetic game of turnovers that was. 🙄 Two precious points pissed away again.
Oilers fan Jeremy McKain @jeresells
What a junk game. Defence standing behind the players out front for free rebounds. The effort is not good enough. This team cannot out-score their mistakes. Brutal.
Oilers fan Jake @OilAcumen
I’m a big Bouchard believer but boy brain cramp after brain cramp
Oilers fan Brad Lauder @OILfanincowtown
Boring game leads to a boring loss…. This team just doesn’t have it
Hall of Fame hockey writer Terry Jones @byterryjones
Up 2-0 and … nothing. Edmonton Oilers can’t close on floundering St Louis Blues, a team that had only one home win so far this year. Still a struggle for back-to-back Stanley Cup finalists. League leader in blowing multi-goal leads… (Oilers management) understand the root of it is going late into June and losing back-to-back Stanley Cup finals and having a hard time convincing themselves the regular season means a spit. The thing is, playing like this is no fun. About time that hit home.
wendo
Oilers fan ABBA Oil 🇨🇦 @Adam_B888
What an embarrassment. I wish this organization got as pissed off at terrible losses as the fans do… I’m raging over here and have to go read a story to my youngest child in funny voices and it’s going to be difficult to put my heart into the characters!!!
Oilers fan Ahmed @NHL_Bouchard
Stan Bowman gave an aging and slow Oilers team some youth, speed and more skill in the off season. Kris Knoblauch went and took a gigantic sh*t all over it
Oilers Daily @oilersdailyy
current problems for the oilers:
offense
defense
goaltending
that’s not ideal
Oilers fan Shauna @SLShockeyfan
Why do I even watch sports. It’s so crushing.
Sports radio host Dustin Nielson @nielsonTSN1260
Three Quick Thoughts
1. Nice to see Roslovic continue to find his footing offensively, could be a great value pick up.
2. The road has not been kind to the Oilers and they’ll see a lot of it this month.
3. You want to win, win battles in key spots and moments.
Oilers fan Den Polland @oilersgm2
I haven’t said anything about goaltending yet this season. Tonight it felt like Pickard really struggled. His movement was hard to watch. I love Picks but an upgrade to the position is critical. If not for anything but something new!
Oilers fan GrizzAlberta @GrizzAlberta
Oilers continue to screw up on defense. Perhaps Oilers don’t like the new system? Too bad Paul Coffee didn’t stay on I doubt it would be this bad.
Go Oilers! Go! 🇨🇦
Oilers fan Golden Hockey @GoldenHcky
Pickard with another game performing below expected. Only 1 Quality Start in 5 games this season
Oilers fan Phil Landry @elksherd
@nielsonTSN1260
They’ve adopted the temperament of their head coach. Bland and boring. Dry as unbuttered toast.
Oilers fan Bone @bonejrp
At the end of the night, Edmonton will have already played 15 games in their first 28 nights in 10 different cities. We may very well be seeing a bit of fatigue. The only other team at 15 by end of night will be Nashville, but in only 7 cities… Their reward for this is getting few days off, before playing 2 in 3 nights at home before going on the road again to play 7 in 11 nights. Game 24 will be played on the 45th day of their season in the 17th city.
Hockey analyst Brad McPherson Blue Bullet Brad @BlueBullet1981
Knoblauch has taken the Oilers back to Dave Tippett era offence..
Hockey fan Paweł @RedEyedSoulTFT
0 shots on goal from 97 29 and 93. Too busy setting up point shots.
Oilers fan Finn 🇨🇦 @oilersjayscan
And still, no heart from this team. Night after night, there’s zero desperation in their game. Does Knob tell them not to shoot or something??
Oilers fan DC @David___Co
Knoblauch has killed all the joy of watching the Oilers offensively, LITERALLY. Keep coaching the team to take stupid point shots from the blue line and refusal to play youth in both Howard and Savoie properly. Beyond tired of this coach.
Oilers fan Ernie Iceman @ernieiceman
Knoblauch has been very successful as a coach. Wallman and Bouchard have excellent point shots. Neither Howard or Savoie have done enough to justify a bump up the line up. Howard has taken multiple bad penalties.
Oilers fan Frozen Oil Hockey @FrozenOilHockey
He is trying to change a high-flying, run-n-gun, and most importantly ENTERTAINING team into a defensively structured team that tries to take every game to OT…DOESNT WORK WITH POOR GOALTENDING & Defence that refuses to clear the crease! SHAMEFUL!
Spittin’ Chiclets podcaster Ryan Whitney @ryanwhitney6
Leafs down 3 and win. Oilers up 2 and now losing with a minute left. What a miserable evening. I’m disgusted and appalled and will be back tomorrow.
Oilers fan Don Shortridge @Clydenewsome
Here is a fact and opinion:
Oilers have 8 of the next 10 games on the road, they are 2-6 on the road so far this season. Their give a sh*t factor is not high. They remain very unsafe.
Oilers Nation writer Michael Menzies @Menzies_4
One thing I think fans would like to see more is Knoblauch lively on the bench. The coach can help with the emotions & energy in game. Other than some pacing in VAN, we rarely see it. Yes, his poise is what has gotten him far. But he also has the demeanour of librarian at times
Oilers fan Sumit Tripathi @Sumit_Tripathi_
Maybe losing to (Dallas Star coach Glen) Gulutzan would be the wake up call KK absolutely needs
Oilers fan Stan Gilbert @Snideguy
I can totally see the Oilers not winning the cup again this year.
Oilers fan Brad Lauder @OILfanincowtown
Coach needs to let the horses run… Bowman needs to have a meeting, and get Knobby on the same page because his system is killing this team the way it was built
Stats analyst Mathew Panchyshyn @mathewjdp
Lots of concerns right now
• finding offense
• defensive blunders
• backup problems
• overplaying 97 and 29
Edm seems to have one of these issues every game. Only 1 game this year has Edm had none. Not good.
Oilers fan RodneyMortgage @RodneyMortgage
You can’t sit back. The best defense is a strong offense. You don’t need to defend as hard if you are attacking a pressing.
Oilers fan Captain Jack 🏴☠️ @OilersJack
Can’t help, but wonder if the Oilers have changed their system to try and shelter their horrific goaltending. Of course that’s assuming that the coach made a deliberate decision and doesn’t just not know what he’s doing.
My take
1. The problems with the Oilers are real and significant. They’re not losing due to bad luck. They’re simply neither attacking nor defending well enough, as seen in their small advantage in Grade A shots this year, especially compared to the last few seasons.
2. The biggest drop off by far has come on defence. I again wonder if the loss of defensive coach Paul Coffey has had a major negative impact on that group. I was no fan of some of Coffey’s line up decisions, and he was never able to get the best out of Darnell Nurse in the playoffs, but he got the best out of every Oil d-man, from Nurse to Bouchard, from Emberson to Kulak, at all other times.
At even strength, the Oilers have created 142 Grade A shots, but they’ve given up 154.
The Oil’s forwards and goalies aren’t killing it, but the Oil’s defence is killing the team. Both their success on the attack and on defence has decreased dramatically from last year. That is the main issue.
3. Knoblauch is not part of the problem. He’s part of the solution. He’s done a great job staying calm and tempered, not throwing any players under the bus. This team has issues, but kicking and screaming don’t cut it, especially for a team struggling with a brutal schedule and two years of playing hockey deep into June, giving the body little recovery time.
The Oilers are also working in seven new forwards to the team. It’s taking time for Knoblauch to find working attacking lines, but he’s come closer in recent games. I see no cause for rage or panic here, though upset about a lack of focus and concentration on defence is warranted.
P.S. The Oilers have activated d-man Alec Regula off injury reserve. Ty Emberson has been playing well, though he was at fault with others on one goal against St. Louis. Perhaps we’ll see Regula against Dallas tonight.
At the Cult of Hockey
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