All eyes across the country will be on Connor McDavid and the rest of Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off final Thursday against Team USA.
But closer to home, the rest of his Edmonton Oilers teammates are gearing up to resume their schedule with a five-game road trip through the Eastern Conference.
For everyone besides McDavid, and Swedish products Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm, it meant a 14-day break between games by the time the puck drops Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers (11 a.m., Sportsnet West, Sportsnet One).
And while they may ease into the trip against a Flyers squad sitting last in the Metropolitan Division, it quickly amps up. The next four games come against teams sitting top-12 in the league, with the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division (the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals, and the Carolina Hurricanes) sandwiching games against two of the top three teams in the Atlantic Division (the third-place Tampa Bay Lightning and the first-place Florida Panthers).
As if that doesn’t sound tough enough, they play those five road games in a span of eight days. But there is an even bigger issue working against the Oilers as they inch ever closer toward the playoff stretch.
While they’re sitting pretty at the two-thirds mark tied atop the Pacific Division with the Vegas Golden Knights at 72 points apiece, the Oilers’ record against the top two teams in each division is a downright ugly 1-7-2.
Worse yet, they were outscored 35-18 in those losses. And even worse still, eight of Edmonton’s remaining 27 games come against those very same opponents.
Of the Winnipeg Jets (first overall), Capitals (second overall), Dallas Stars and Golden Knights (both tied with Edmonton for third overall), Panthers (sixth overall), Hurricanes (seventh overall) and Maple Leafs (ninth overall), the Oilers have only managed to beat Vegas.
Once.
And they’ve played three times, so far.
And that’s not the most stellar of track records when considering those seven opponents will make up nearly half the field come playoffs.
Fortunately, the only time the Oilers would have to worry about the ones from the Eastern Conference would mean a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. And that would be a very good problem to have, indeed.
But the kind of competition they will find along the way to get back there is the same kind they’ve gone 1-7-2 against, so far.
Oilers looking to lock down Pacific Division
It’s no secret the Oilers would love to knock a 38-year-old monkey off their back and win their division for the first time since 1987.
So, it’s no small feat to be tied atop the Pacific coming out of the break for 4 Nations.
Whether that’s where they’ll end up by mid-April or not, their main goal, of course, lies in doing whatever it takes to win it all.
And if that means doing the bare minimum the rest of the regular season to still earn some home-ice advantage in the playoffs, while still keeping something left in the tank for when games matter most, then perhaps there is some strategy at play.
Maybe the Oilers learned a valuable lesson on the way to suffering defeat in Game 7 of last year’s championship final. If their superstars were running on fumes, with Leon Draisaitl held point-less in five games of that series, and Connor McDavid in three, then can they really be blamed for trying to hold back more in reserve this time around?
Honestly, they’re tied for second in the conference, likely with no chance of surpassing the Jets, who have a nine-point buffer.
Maybe they call it good and do what it takes to stay in second. And only what it takes. As nice as it would be knowing they have home-ice advantage, it might be more advantageous to try and keep themselves fresher for the post-season.
And if that means plucking points off the bottom two-thirds of the roster, while still putting in an honest effort — but not quite pushing the pedal to the metal — against the top-third and accepting those sound defeats, then the math might work out to carry more of a remainder for them when it counts.
Or maybe they just aren’t as good as their record implies and they simply can’t get it done against the big dogs in the yard. Playoffs will certainly sort out the conundrum.
‘It’s a full reset’: Zach Hyman
The good teams are the ones that are playing their best at the end of the regular season.
Hitting playoffs on a high note is music to the ears of any head coach.
But could this year’s Edmonton edition already have its best days behind them?
Following a mediocre start to the season that saw them start out .500 through October, the Oilers continued on to go 10-9-2 before starting to hit their stride at the end of November.
They went on an incredible run of 22-6-1, before skidding into the break a pedestrian 2-2-1 over their last five.
And both of those wins came in overtime against opponents on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, the St. Louis Blues (tied for 23rd overall) and Chicago Blackhawks (31st out of 32).
So, yeah. You could say it was time for a break.
But it’s also time to get back to business.
“It’s a good week-long break,” said forward Zach Hyman. “It’s amazing how quickly the puck can feel foreign if you’re not touching it all the time.”
It turns out the time away wasn’t just a chance to recharge physically, but mentally, as well.
“It’s a full reset,” Hyman said. “The last game was so long ago you don’t even think about the game prior, you just think about getting ready for the next game and making sure we’re all ready to play.
“And obviously, for the guys not at 4 Nations, every team’s in the same boat so there are no excuses. Everybody’s back and practising and getting ready for whatever game they play.”
Hyman family takes over Brantford Bulldogs
It wasn’t all rest and relaxation for Hyman, who headed home to Toronto to see in-person the Brantford Bulldogs, after his family purchased the Ontario Hockey League organization in January.
“It was awesome. I was in Toronto visiting family and then spent a couple days with Brantford,” Hyman said. “One practice day, I got to go on the ice with the guys and meet all the staff in person.
“I got to talk to players and catch a game (against the Niagara Ice Dogs on Feb. 14) and was fortunate the boys played well, they won 10-1. Three hat-tricks in the game, which doesn’t happen often.
“So, that was pretty cool, and I got to do the puck drop with my wife.”
As his attention turns back to his NHL club, Hyman knows full well the Oilers haven’t exactly been dominant, to say the least, in recent outings.
“Whenever there’s a break around the corner, your game may slip a little bit,” he said. “You try not to, everybody says the right things, it’s human nature when there’s a break there.
“So, for us there’s no more break. You’ve got the last third of the season, you’ve got to be playing your best hockey and that’s a two-way game for us. Strong defensively, bring the puck out, generate offence, good special teams. I think we can do better on our power play and penalty kill, that’s always been a strength for us. And just continuing to build our team game.”
Draisaitl chasing NHL trophy dreams
As the regular-season begins winding down, the points race will only heat up, with Draisaitl giving the Oilers their best chance at earning some individual hardware.
And it’s a good chance.
He sits second overall in the points race, four behind McDavid’s Team Canada teammate Nathan MacKinnon. And he’s done so on the strength of a league-leading 40 goals over 55 games.
The next closest competitor is Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander, who’s scored 33 goals in the same 55-game span. Extend that out over the next 27 games and not only will we be congratulating Draisaitl on his first 60-goal campaign, but also measuring his mantle to add a Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard trophy next to his collection of Art Ross, Ted Lindsay and Hart Memorial trophies from 2020.
It could take some doing to catch MacKinnon in the race for another Art Ross, however.
Of course, there is only one trophy that excites the likes of Draisaitl and McDavid. And that’s the one they got painfully close to in June. And the only one they have their sights set on earning this time around.
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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