The bleeding stopped, the scab formed and the Edmonton Oilers, with another scar to add to their collection, look like they might be getting their game back in order.
We’ll have a better idea Saturday night in Toronto, but after a brutal start eerily reminiscent of last October’s face plant, winning just twice in their first seven games, the Oilers are 7-3 in their last 10 and will take a three-game winning streak into the centre of the universe to begin a three-game road trip.
The Oilers aren’t all the way back yet, there are still some holes to be addressed and they did blow third-period leads in three straight home games, but things seem to be moving in the right direction heading into a showdown between the two most high-profile teams in Canada.
“It’s looking better,” said Connor McDavid, after a goal and an assist brought him to 1,001 career points in a storybook finish Thursday at Rogers Place. “We looked really good. We didn’t give up too much. I don’t love that we gave up a breakaway with three minutes to go and a one-goal lead, there are things to clean up for sure, but a lot of positive signs. I thought it looked really good all over.”
With six points in Edmonton’s two-game home stand (back-to-back overtime wins over the New York Islanders and Nashville) McDavid has the 1,000-point milestone out of the way and the Oilers seem to be heading into the heart of the season with a little momentum.
Thursday against Nashville, despite giving up the tying goal with 2:48 left in the third period, was a nice springboard.
“We needed to win this game,” said Leon Draisaitl. “Obviously we would’ve liked to tighten that last play up a little it, but it was a good ending for us.”
The Oilers inched their way up to a three-way tie for fourth place in the Pacific Division with Calgary and Vancouver, and seem quite at home on the road this year, going 5-2-0 so far.
Their penalty killing, which has been killing them all year, just went two games in a row without giving up a goal, the fourth and fifth times in 17 games that they haven’t been scored on. So that’s also a step in the right direction.
But the Oilers will be the first to tell you they are a long way from where they were down the stretch and in the playoffs last year. The power play went 0-for-4 against Nashville and, while it’s shown signs of life in recent games, still sits 24th in the NHL at 15.9 per cent through a fairly large sample size.
Offensively, the Oilers have been just OK this year (20th in the NHL), but with 14 goals in the last three games they might be trending up.
“Offence is about being clean with it, crisp,” said McDavid. “I think we’re still lacking some of that — passes flat, passes on time, good decisions with it. We’re still lacking that a little bit and also that killer instinct a little bit. But it’s still a positive that we’re finding ways to win games.”
The killer instinct is definitely a problem at the moment. The Oilers blew a 3-1 third-period lead against the Islanders and 2-1 lead with 2:48 to play against Nashville. Add in the three-goal third period collapse against Vegas last week and the Oilers have been outscored 6-0 over the last 10 minutes of their last three home games.
“It’s unfortunate we gave up that late goal, giving up the breakaway with two minutes left is unacceptable,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “It’s not a recipe for success long-term but we did a lot of good things.”
They’re finding ways to win, but shut down hockey isn’t in their repertoire yet. Against a team that can score like the Leafs, fresh off a three-goal comeback win over the Washington Capitals, that might be an issue.
They’ll deal with that when they get to Toronto. In the meantime, they’ve got a little momentum for the first time this season.
“It was huge for us putting two together on home ice,” said defenceman Darnell Nurse, who potted the overtime winner on a behind-the-back pass from McDavid. “It obviously wasn’t the conventional way of winning we’d like to close them out in the third period, but with that said there’s a lot we can look back on over the last two games we can reflect on, and did some really good things.”