Every other day, it seems like another aspect of the Edmonton Oilers is falling into place.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s next generation talents Vasily Podkolzin and Matt Savoie planting their flags in Edmonton\u2019s top six, the second pairing of Darnell Nurse and Connor Murphy shoring up the defence or the goaltending of Connor Ingram providing the backbone of the Oilers recent surge, the glaring holes of the first 65 games are getting filled.<\/p>\n
And now we\u2019re seeing Edmonton\u2019s bottom six starting to take shape, with goals from the third (Kasperi Kapanen) and fourth (Max Jones) lines securing a 3-0 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
But more important than the secondary scoring, which is nice, but isn\u2019t necessarily what they\u2019re being counted on to provide, is the identity they\u2019re building \u2014 hard physical forechecking and momentum changing shifts that wear down the other team and set the stage for Edmonton\u2019s high end players.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely, they have helped us win each of these last four games,\u201d said head coach Kris Knoblauch, after the suddenly-surging Oilers posted their longest win streak of the season<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re providing some offence and also some set-up shifts, spending some time in the offensive zone, grinding the other team\u2019s defence down, finishing their checks, making it hard for them. Then McDavid follows that up and it\u2019s so much easier for him to do his thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they\u2019re not scoring every night, but they\u2019re just carrying momentum, which is helping our team.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve been shuffled around, but Jones, Kapanen, Jason Dickinson, Curtis Lazar, Josh Samanski and Adam Henrique are finding chemistry no matter what the combinations are. And with Trent Frederic and Colton Dach ready to return in short order, the Oilers suddenly have all kinds of options in the bottom six.<\/p>\n
And with those options, the team is developing an identity \u2014 stingy, hard to play against with solid goaltending and a quick-strike offence. That\u2019s a 180-degree turn from where they were a month ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everybody at this point in the season expects to know where they are at and what they need to be doing on the ice,\u201d said Jones, adding they are all fine with the internal competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe watch guys get into the lineup and do great things and we\u2019re happy for them. At the end of the day we have one goal here. I\u2019ve noticed that since I got traded here last year. Everything else doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s one goal and if you\u2019re not a part of it then you\u2019re not going to be here. It\u2019s very evident with this group and how close it is and how much everybody really cares for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no accident that things are falling into place in the final two weeks of the season. It was either get it together or go out with a whimper. It appears that rolling over and accepting that it\u2019s not their year doesn\u2019t seem to be an option.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis group knows what time of year is coming up,\u201d said defenceman Mattias Ekholm. \u201cWhen the stage gets bigger we tend to show up. Playoff time is when this team is at its best. That\u2019s one of the bigger factors, the urgency goes up when it\u2019s this time of year. Kudos to us for finding it because sometimes you just can\u2019t if you have a sluggish start to the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were teetering on dropping out of the playoff picture,\u201d added Knoblauch. \u201cI think that caught everyone\u2019s attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether the Oilers, after two runs to the Stanley Cup Final, were just disinterested for the first 65 games of the regular season or they genuinely couldn\u2019t find their game doesn\u2019t matter \u2014 they\u2019re finding it now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing is that we\u2019re playing the right way right now and that counts, so we just have to keep building,\u201d said Kapanen. \u201cIt\u2019s all coming together at a perfect time right now so we\u2019re happy where we\u2019re at.\u201d
Nobody wants to say it in October, November or January because then it sounds like you\u2019re not taking the season seriously, but for teams that hope to be playing into late June, the season starts now, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like ever since we had the conversation about just everyone stepping up a bit, it seems like everyone\u2019s kind of just doing a little bit extra out there,\u201d said Jones,<\/p>\n
\u201cThe group is really fun to be a part of outside of the ice and just being in the locker room with them. When you have a good group like that you really rely on each other to do a good job.
\u201cI feel like you can see it out there. Guys are playing the way that they know they should be. We\u2019re playing great and it\u2019s fun to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
E-mail:\u00a0rtychkowski@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add EdmontonJournal.com<\/a> and EdmontonSun.com<\/a> to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters<\/a>.
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