On the night time Ryan Nugent-Hopkins performed his 900th recreation, the Edmonton Oilers’ offensive struggles had been on full show in a disappointing 3-0 shutout loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Regardless of dealing with a backup goalie in Sam Montembeault, the Oilers did not capitalize on their energy play probabilities and generated little stress all through. Defensive lapses and a scarcity of urgency compounded their points, marking the third time this season they’ve been shut out. With key gamers like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl neutralized, Edmonton needs to be pissed off they little a recreation they need to have received on paper acquired away from them.
Remaining from Montreal. The #Oilers will wrap up their three-game journey tomorrow in Ottawa.@SentinelStorage | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/2UX4tJbSFz
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 19, 2024
Listed here are three takeaways from the Oilers’ disappointing loss.
Oilers Offense Lacked Urgency and Execution
The Oilers’ scoring woes are reaching regarding ranges. Whereas credit score ought to go to Montembeault, the Oilers did not generate high-quality probabilities or capitalize on their alternatives. It was extra troubling that they went 0-4 for on their energy performs.
It has been a season-long battle with particular groups and neither Leon Draisaitl nor Connor McDavid regarded terribly harmful. The Canadiens did a stable job of neutralizing and irritating each stars. As soon as they’d grown aggravated, the Oilers appeared to point out a scarcity of urgency and tried to make issues too advanced by overthinking their offense.
With this shutout marking the third time Edmonton has been blanked in 19 video games, the Oilers’ historically high-scoring roster was unacceptably underwhelming. Their incapability to complete probabilities is changing into a significant issue.
Bouchard and Ekholm Lead Defensive Issues and Particular person Struggles
Defensively, the Oilers didn’t assist out the struggling offense. Calvin Pickard was in aim and whereas he would have favored the second aim again, he made 22 saves on 24 photographs. He was usually unnoticed to dry by defensive breakdowns, significantly from Evan Bouchard, who was on the ice for all three of Montreal’s objectives. Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm additionally completed with a minus-3 score.
Whereas the Canadiens didn’t pepper Pickard with an awesome variety of photographs, they uncovered the Oilers with out Darnell Nurse and lit up Edmonton’s high defensive pairing. It’s clear the Oilers have to tighten up defensively whereas additionally discovering methods to assist their goaltender with higher all-around effort.
Oilers Confirmed Lack of Compete Stage and Consistency
The Oilers’ efficiency mirrored a scarcity of vitality and a regarding absence of compete degree. This was a winnable recreation, but Edmonton got here out flat and by no means displayed the depth required to grab management.
The primary aim they conceded got here from a easy shot thrown on internet (a pleasant tip by Brendan Gallagher). The Canadiens’ younger roster, in contrast, performed with self-discipline and dedication in all three zones, repaying Montembeault’s early saves with constant defensive work. Edmonton’s try and depend on flashy, low-percentage performs solely made their assault predictable and pretty easy for the Canadiens to close down.
It’s a worrying development for the Oilers, who’ve now dropped back-to-back video games they had been favored to win. They’ll journey to Ottawa on Tuesday and in the event that they don’t win that recreation, it may be time to make some severe modifications.
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