The Edmonton Oilers’ mediocre play continued on Saturday (Oct. 25) against the Seattle Kraken in a 3-2 loss at Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken got two goals from Jordan Eberle and one from Tye Kartye, while the Oilers’ goalscorers were Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse.
The Oilers weren’t necessarily bad, but they weren’t dangerous offensively, as most of their chances came off the cycle. The Kraken limited their opportunities and kept them to the outside. The Oilers need to do a better job of creating chaos and getting to the blue paint. They had too much perimeter play and didn’t fight hard enough to get to the front of the net.
Related: Eberle Scores Twice in Kraken’s 3-2 Victory Over Oilers
Out of their nine games, they only played well once, a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 11. They got bailed out by their goaltender against the New York Rangers, gave up a lead against the Ottawa Senators, and got extremely lucky against the Montreal Canadiens in a game they didn’t deserve to win.
According to an Oilers’ pundit, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Bouchard have combined for one goal and five assists at 5-on-5 through nine games. That’s not nearly good enough. It’s difficult to win when your best players aren’t producing at even strength. You can’t always rely on the power play to contribute. They’ve gotten off to another slow start, and something needs to change. With that said, here are four takeaways from their latest defeat.
Oilers’ Power Play Is Heating Up
Let’s start with a few positives. The Oilers’ power play is starting to find a rhythm. They’ve scored three power-play goals in their last seven attempts over the past two games. Bouchard finally netted his first goal of the season with a power-play slap shot. He desperately needed that one as he has struggled at both ends of the ice to start the season. The power play also got them back into the game against Montreal. While they still lost this one, if the power play continues to produce, they will start finding success.
Jack Roslovic’s Best Game as an Oiler
Jack Roslovic had his best game in an Oilers uniform, resulting in a top-line promotion. He started with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Adam Henrique, but got elevated alongside McDavid and Andrew Mangiapane, or Draisaitl when they loaded up the top guns.
He was one of the few forwards who looked dangerous in the offensive zone. The 28-year-old finished the game with three shots, one hit, and one block with a plus-1 rating in 16:33 of ice time. He has at least three shots in four of his seven games. The Oilers need to shoot more, and he provides that. This team needs more producers at 5-on-5, and if he plays like this, the goals will come.
Edmonton Oilers center Jack Roslovic (Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)
He used his speed to generate quality looks. According to Natural Stat Trick, when he was on the ice, the Oilers had an 11-4 shot advantage, with a 14-2 scoring chance advantage, including a 5-0 advantage at high danger. He also had five individual scoring chances and three high-danger chances. The Columbus, Ohio, native led the team in both scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances. He had a great game, and the stats back it up.
Transition Defence Sunk the Oilers
Now we move to the negatives. All three Kraken goals came off the rush, after sustained offensive zone time from Edmonton. Their decision-making and transition defence lost them the game, simple as that. They continue to make atrocious mistakes, usually from the same suspects. Bouchard continues to struggle defensively, directly leading to two goals against, and was a minus-3.
The third Seattle goal was egregious from the Oilers’ blueliner. He misplayed the puck, resulting in a turnover and another odd-man rush. Not only did he give the puck away, but Eberle was all alone behind the defence. That mistake can’t happen in a one-goal game with under 10 minutes remaining in the third period. If that doesn’t happen, the game likely goes to overtime. Brutal puck management has been the theme all season, which continued. Attention to detail has been nonexistent in the early going. Everyone needs to buy in and be better defensively.
Knoblauch’s Decision-Making Was Questionable
Head coach Kris Knoblauch continued to shuffle the forward group, looking for a spark. The Oilers’ offence has looked disjointed all season, and the constant line juggling isn’t helping. This was a takeaway during Edmonton’s 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings last Sunday (Oct. 19), but that issue remains prevalent. During the broadcast on Thursday (Oct. 23) against the Canadiens, it was stated that the Oilers have used 21 different line combinations already this season.
The Oilers started the game with McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins at centre, but that didn’t last long. The Oilers were down 1-0 just 1:23 into the game, and Knoblauch immediately played McDavid with Draisaitl, abandoning his original lineup. This had become the norm, as Edmonton’s coach continued loading up the big guns when trailing, no matter the point in the game, and that’s a panic move. He also took Isaac Howard off the top line, replacing him with Roslovic. While Roslovic had a good game, nobody will develop chemistry with this constant line juggling, and that’s evident in these results.
Knoblauch also refused to use his timeout in the final minutes, trailing 3-2. Yes, Seattle iced the puck a few times, but you can’t take the timeout home with you, so use it. Your top players needed a break, and a timeout would allow you to draw up a play off the faceoff. There’s no need to overcomplicate things. That was a mind-boggling decision from the bench boss.
The Oilers conclude their mini two-game road trip on Sunday (Oct. 26) when they battle the Canucks. Keep following The Hockey Writers for all your NHL content throughout the season.
