Rough. Rough.
Or, perhaps, ruff, ruff.
Either one applies if you are looking back at the last two Edmonton Oilers games — close-call decisions over 30th-place Buffalo and 28th-place Seattle.
They put four important points in the bank, but those were some sloppy wins. Such is life when a team hits the dog days of January. It’s just human nature. All teams go through it.
This is the part of the season when a team needs to call on all of its mental energy to stay on the right side of the doldrums. After all of the venom involved in their recent win over Vancouver, and a showdown with the Toronto Maple Leafs waiting for them on Saturday, mid-week games against Buffalo, Seattle and Detroit on Thursday don’t exactly get the blood boiling.
That’s fine, but there is still a job to be done. The Oilers are still in a back-and-forth battle with Vegas for first place in the Pacific, which could greatly impact what happens in the playoffs.
“We have to clean a couple of things up, but sometimes, especially at this time of year, you have to find ways to win hockey games,” said Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl.
“You get tired this time of year a little bit and fatigue starts to kick in a bit, but good teams still find ways to win hockey games, and we’re obviously looking to continue that.”
Head coach Kris Knoblauch said after both of Edmonton’s last wins that they were bailed out by their goaltenders — Stuart Skinner against Buffalo and Calvin Pickard against Seattle — and snuck away with two points on a night when they were far from their best.
This needs to change, especially with a Detroit team that’s 9-2-1 in January coming in next and the Leafs and their fans about to invade Rogers Place.
“We want to tighten things up,” said Knoblauch. “The Seattle game — we gave up too many chances. The Buffalo game definitely too many chances and shots against.
“A lot of the time it’s the result of defensive play, but a lot, too, is puck play. I don’t think we were moving the puck well, whether it’s defencemen making a breakout pass or forwards on the attack. We’re just turning pucks over and being in a position of having to defend. There are times when we can be better in our zone, but for me, a lot of it has to do with the puck play.”
The mid-season finish line is fast approaching, though. Five more games and Edmonton hits a two-week pause in the schedule for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“The break will come at a nice time,” said Draisaitl. “Hopefully, we can be playing well at that time and be in a great spot coming out of the break.
“We’re in a tight race for our division lead. Any point that we can grab is big and important, but more importantly, is the way we play the game.”
Klingberg klose
Oilers defenceman John Klingberg is closing in on his start date. He has been skating with the club for over a week, picking up speed, and could be ready to go any day now.
“We haven’t decided on (when),” said Knoblauch. “We have to check in with the medical staff. We’d like it to be this week, and if it doesn’t happen this week, it’ll be next week. We’re just taking it day by day.”
The Oilers need to find out exactly what they’ve got in the 32-year-old defenceman, who hasn’t played a game in over a year while he recovered and rehabbed from hip surgery.
He used to be an elite puck-moving defenceman, and if he turns into that guy again, the team will have hit the jackpot.
If not, they have to decide their next move in advance of the trade deadline. So the longer his audition is the better.
“It’s important to get in as many games as possible,” said Knoblauch. “That being said, we don’t want to put him in the lineup if he’s not ready.”
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