After an odd aim by Leon Draisaitl within the opening seconds of the sport on Thursday evening, the Edmonton Oilers struggled in all aspects (besides penalty killing) throughout their 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild. It marked one other irritating outing in what has been an inconsistent season. The Oilers have been shorthanded as a result of some accidents to key gamers, however their poor effort was probably not a results of these gamers being out. The powerplay went 0-for-2, the group made repeated defensive errors, and the goaltending wasn’t there.
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Listed below are three key takeaways from the sport:
Wild Capitalized on Oilers’ Defensive Lapses
The Oilers’ defensive effort was a obtrusive concern. They have been torpid and disorganized in their very own zone, permitting the Wild to grab momentum after Edmonton’s early lead. Corey Perry summed it up greatest: “They undoubtedly out-competed us tonight.” Defenders Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard mixed for eight giveaways, with Bouchard persevering with to wrestle to get pictures via site visitors. Ekholm, usually the one stabilizing and dependable blueliner, had an uncharacteristically poor evening with the puck.
“Not adequate defensively. All of the objectives have been from inside 10 toes of the online. We didn’t block guys out,” mentioned head coach Kris Knoblauch. He mentioned he believes within the group, however that good gamers have to be good gamers by working onerous. “Now we have to seek out methods to attain objectives. You want talent to try this however you additionally want some grit.”
Oilers’ Offense Lacked Spark
Regardless of scoring three objectives, two got here from lucky bounces, and the Oilers generated little sustained stress. Their energy play was unproductive, managing zero pictures on aim, and their general offensive efficiency wasn’t in any respect spectacular.
The constructive observe was that Kasperi Kapanen drew two penalties in his Oilers debut. Sadly, that didn’t spark the group’s assault. Jeff Skinner scored on the finish of the sport, which is lucky as a result of he wanted to attain. It was too little, too late.
Goaltending Points Proceed for the Oilers
Stuart Skinner’s struggles in internet have been evident once more, as he allowed 5 objectives and appeared in want of a reset. With 5 days of observe forward, the Oilers may have to contemplate giving Calvin Pickard a begin towards the Rangers to offer Skinner with a psychological break.
“His recreation isn’t the place it was final 12 months. After I was right here I assumed he was one of many high goalies within the league,” mentioned Knoblauch. The coach added that the gamers weren’t adequate in entrance of him and it was onerous to foretell what pictures could be coming at him.
The Oilers have vital work to do to deal with these ongoing points.
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