The Edmonton Oilers lost on just about every front Saturday night in Toronto.
They wilted in the third period and overtime, a bloodied Darnell Nurse had to be helped off the ice, his status for the rest of the trip in question, and they fumbled away all of the momentum they built in the three-game win streak leading up to the 4-3 overtime collapse in Toronto.
Rough night. The only thing missing was the NHL taking a look at the replays and deciding Connor McDavid was back at 999 points.
Everyone knows from experience that one game doesn’t mean anything and what happens in November has nothing to do with the season we’ll be dissecting in April, May or June. And there are surely going to be changes to their roster to address some of the current concerns.
In the meantime, feel free to be concerned.
THIRD PERIODS
Edmonton’s inability to play shut down defence and close out a game is becoming a big problem after blowing third-period leads four times in the last five games.
Put a close game in front of them and they look like Mike Tyson against Jake Paul.
They had a 2-1 third period lead against Vegas and gave up goals at 10:05, 19:11 and 19:55.
They had a 3-1 third period lead on the New York Islanders and gave up goals at 12:54 and 17:20.
They were up 2-1 on Nashville and coughed up the tying goal at 17:12.
And in Toronto they were up 2-1 in the third and gave up goals at 13:08 and 14:07.
That’s eight goals against in clutch time in four games. That they managed to beat the Islanders and Nashville in overtime is good, but it can’t mask the real issue.
In 18 games this year the Oilers have surrendered 18 goals in second half of the third period (which is tied for worst in the league, according to Sportsnet Stats).
This is a staggering step back for a team that was 29-3-1 when leading after two periods last year.
NURSE STATUS TBD
The National Hockey League Department of Player Safety announced on Sunday morning that Leafs forward Ryan Reaves will face a hearing for the head shot that knocked Darnell Nurse out of Saturday’s game. Any player receiving a match penalty can’t play again until the league reviews and rules on the infraction.
Reaves has been suspended three times before and this situation will surely be the fourth. It was reckless and avoidable shoulder to the head contact that resulted in an injury.
Even if he does get the book thrown at him the Oilers still come out losers in the deal. A suspension has no impact on Edmonton’s immediate future while an injured Nurse would be tough to handle for a defence that is already having trouble shutting things down.
Nurse was reportedly in good spirits after the Leafs game but head injuries can flare up a day or two later, you just never know. The Oilers were off Sunday and offered no updates on his condition heading into back-to-back games in Montreal and Ottawa.
RECORD VS GOOD TEAMS
The Oilers have been picking their spots so far as they hang around .500 through 18 games (9-7-2).
Of Edmonton’s nine wins this season, only two were against teams with winning records (Calgary and Vancouver). The other seven victories came against the NHL’s lower middle class: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, the Islanders and three wins over Nashville.
Against teams with winning records Edmonton has just two wins in nine tries (2-5-2), beating Calgary and Vancouver and losing to Winnipeg, Calgary, Dallas, Carolina, Jersey, Vegas and Toronto.
Edmonton is still ahead of where it was last year at this time — they were 5-12-1 at the 18-game mark — but this is where they hit the gas and turned their season around.
Game 19 last year was the start of an insane 24-3 run highlighted by winning streaks of eight and 16 games.
POWER PLAY
It’s not a small sample size, it’s almost a quarter of a season in the bank and the Oilers power play, which has long been the lifeblood of who they are, remains 22nd in the NHL with just eight goals in 18 games.
A good power play will always tell that it’s not necessarily how many they score, but when they score them. That was an issue Saturday against the Leafs. After an 0-for-4 night against Nashville the power play failed to pad a 2-1 lead during a five-minute power play on the Reaves hit.
Even when the Oilers were slumping out of the gate last year their power play was still OK at 22.8 per cent. This year it’s at 17.4.
It might be a byproduct of the team’s overall malaise. The Oilers aren’t playing hard enough to generate a lot of power plays so they can’t get their rhythm down on the man advantage.
Last year at this time they had 57 power plays, this year it’s 46.
E-mail: [email protected]
Bookmark our website and support our journalism:Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.