Sometimes, the name of the game is simply survival.
The Edmonton Oilers know they aren’t going to score seven goals every game. Especially with the way their offence and power play have crawled out of the gate this season.
At one point, it kind of looked like everything was conspiring against them, sitting below .500 after having been pumped 6-1 by a Columbus Blue Jackets squad whose roster doesn’t hold a candle to the Oilers’ star-studded cast. Adding injury to insult, Connor McDavid went down with an ankle injury.
Suddenly, they found themselves without their captain for the foreseeable future as they gazed upon a gloomy horizon with four of their next five games coming against hot-to-trot teams all above the .500 mark, including the Metropolitan Division-leading New Jersey Devils and three opponents above them here in the Pacific Division.
Oh, and they hadn’t beaten an opponent with a winning record at that point.
The Oilers might as well have been taking a late-night walk down Murderer’s Row with a blindfold on and the cigarette already lit.
Let’s just say any visions of their near-miraculous journey to Game 7 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final were feeling like a distant memory, if it ever even really happened at all.
But as the Oilers peered into the abyss potentially awaiting them at the bottom of the standings, they may just have discovered themselves down in that darkness.
Or rather, rediscovered themselves.
2-1 without McDavid
They went 2-1 in McDavid’s absence, doubling up the Calgary Flames 4-2 for an ever-important win over their much-detested provincial rivals to climb above .500 themselves for the first (and, so far, only) time.
One murderer down. But they were never going to get through this unscathed.
The Oilers came crashing back to reality the following day, getting blanked 3-0 in their own building by the Devils in a loss felt like it was all back to Square 1.
Still, they rallied back to take a 2-1 lead into the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights, only to have their biggest disappointment — a penalty kill that’s gone from hero to zero in the span of one off-season — rear its ugly head on the way to a 4-2 loss.
After that, it was going to take a monumental effort get out of the gauntlet against the reigning Pacific Division champion Vancouver Canucks.
And monumental it was, with the Oilers offence exploding for season-high production in a 7-3 win on the west coast that might just have them believing, once again, that anything is possible.
“It was a good win, especially the third period,” said forward Connor Brown, who scored two of Edmonton’s four goals in the final frame after seeing a 3-0 lead turn into a one-goal game. “I thought we were composed, made plays right through the game and right out of the gate in that third, so a lot to build on.”
All the talent and skill they knew all along they still have was finally put on display for the league to see. If the Oilers were looking to make a statement, that is.
‘Worked hard’
“Well, sometimes it’s just a bounce too,” Brown said. “Sometimes a little bounce like that can take the reins off a bit and guys can just go out there and play. I think that might have been it.
“I think we went out there, we worked hard and we got rewarded with some chances.”
Going 3-2 in their last five — the majority of which took place without McDavid on the ice — is about as good as the Oilers could have possibly hoped for, given the way things have been going.
And now, they find themselves with more than a little offensive momentum as they look to climb back over the .500 mark this week, beginning Tuesday (7 p.m., Sportsnet West) with the New York Islanders (6-6-1) before facing a Nashville Predators (5-9-1) squad that is scraping the bottom of the Western Conference barrel and whom the Oilers have already beaten twice by a combined 9-3.
Though, truth be told, at this point the focus is as much on themselves and what they need to keep doing as a team, as it is preparing for particular opponents.
“Absolutely, I think that’s always really the (case),” Brown said. “There’s little things you adjust for playing different teams, but for us it’s internal.
“It’s making sure our D-zone is as good as it can be, and little things like that. The things that you can control.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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