Pre-Scout: With home ice advantage on the line, Oilers can’t take streaking Canucks lightly |
Of the two possible problems for the Edmonton Oilers, the one they currently have is the preferred option, I reckon.
Would you rather the Oilers be scoring at will, but struggling to suppress goals against? Well, we’ve seen that, and it hasn’t been a long-term winning strategy. The Oilers know it too, and there’s a vibe around the team that they are dialling into a sound defensive structure.
That doesn’t mean the reverse issue of not scoring, giving up two goals in 125 minutes, and going 0-1-1 in the process, ain’t nothing either. But of the two, it’s the preferred issue.
“A lot of times it’s luck,” said coach Kris Knoblauch on Wednesday about his team’s recent scoring woes. This time of year, offence isn’t so easy to create.
“It’s harder to score, it’s tighter checking. You’re getting less freebies, less odd-man rushes, so you just have to be hungry around the net to score. You have to pay a price.”
Connor Ingram has been terrific in his last two starts, giving the Oilers every opportunity to win against the Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings. In his last seven games, he’s 4-2-1, with a .924 save percentage, and an even 2.00 goals against average.
But the depth scoring has dried up, and after arrows were pointing up, the Oilers have lost four of their five games. Connor McDavid has factored in on the team’s last six goals over a three-game stretch. It’s been 203 minutes and 24 seconds since Edmonton scored a non-McDavid-affected goal.
The good news is the Oilers won’t be missing Hyman any longer, as he’s been cleared to return and practiced on McDavid’s wing on Wednesday. It comes at the right time because an Oilers win ensures home-ice advantage in the first round.
Hyman’s return
The Oilers’ third-highest goal scorer, Zach Hyman, will return after missing the last four games due to an undisclosed injury. It seemed to eat at him not being in the lineup.
“I don’t just sit out games. I don’t like doing that,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
“It’s not something where I was just kind of sitting out. It was taking care of something and making sure that you’re able to contribute at the level that you need to in order to make sure that the team has success. In the playoffs, you play a little bit more physical, obviously, so I gotta make sure that I’m ready to play at that level.”
Hyman is a valuable piece. Look no further than the netfront chances on the........