Rookie Connor Clattenburhg celebrates his 1st NHL goal with bench

Photo credit: Walter Tychnowicz – Imagn Images

In only his second game in the NHL, Connor Clattenburg is showing why he may be staying for a while with the Oilers.

Oilers lose game in spite of Clattenburg’s dominance

Though a small sample size, with a stat-line like the one he recorded against the Stars, he single-handedly addressed most of what the Oilers are lacking.

Clattenburg is exactly what the Oilers seem to be lacking this year, a physical presence with a no-quit engine, throwing hits and being a general nuisance in front of the net. It’s how he scored his first NHL goal.

In a perfect world, the rest of the team will take note and follow Clattenburg’s lead and play the right way. Finding motivation of course is sometimes difficlut; but for a team that is expected to, and has the ability to win a Stanley Cup, what more motivation does it need.

The Oilers actually have the personnel for a physical style, but for some inexplicable reason, haven’t applied it. Whether by design, or lack of commitment from players like Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic, or both, is hard to say. The end result is the same, however.

Frederic was the one who saw his ice time taken by Clattenburg. Frederic played a shocking low of only 5 minutes, potentially being singled out for a poor line change that lead to a GA.

It’s a difficult time for Edmonton right now, as the team is still trying to find its form and win games, like they’ve been accustomed to doing; finding a bright spot on this team has been difficult of late.

Yet, if they can change their mind-set and up their compete-level, the skill and offense will follow. It’s not a new formula, but it has to be applied. Trent Frederic hasn’t, and was benched as a consequence.

Connor Clattenburg, at least for two games, has and the results are obvious.

Previously on Edmonton Hockey Daily

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Oilers veteran forward harshly benched, team may make surprising call on rookie Connor Clattenburg

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