There is never a good time to be playing your worst hockey of the season.
But it’s getting pretty close to the worst time to be watching your game go down the sewer. And with the post season just 21 games away, the Edmonton Oilers look a mess.
A sample size that’s now about 15 games long is revealing some uncomfortable truths about the wanna be Stanley Cup contenders.
The poster boys for resilience have become a soft, fragile team that wilts at the first sign of trouble. The offence has reverted back to being one-dimensional. The commitment to team defence that was the hallmark of last year’s 16-game winning streak and run to the Stanley Cup Final has been replaced by disinterest and disarray.
And if they somehow manage to get all of that figured out, there is no guarantee they have the goaltending to get past the first round.
There is still time, there is still a trade deadline to come and there is still a core group of players in that room that know what it takes to win. The Oilers still deserve the benefit of the doubt.
But right now it doesn’t look very good. To take a team that was two goals away from a Stanley Cup win and give it a major overhaul in the off-season is a risky move and as of right now the Oilers don’t look better for it.
In their first game back after a terrible road trip, but coming off what should have been a launching pad win in Carolina, the Oilers started strong on Tuesday, took the lead, then folded the tent when Anaheim pushed back. It was embarrassing.
“We got deflated,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
“Not the response that we needed after they got their second and third (goals). It’s something we need to talk about and address a little more. That’s not the way that we do things.”
Losing a game or two is one thing, but the current malaise has been going on for weeks and instead of getting better things are getting worse — 1-6 in their last seven games if you’re scoring at home.
They say they’re going to pull out of this but this is as grim as things have looked since the first six weeks of last season.
“We know where we’re at over the last few weeks for sure, there’s no delusion there,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “But, at the same time, we also know what we’re capable of and what we have in this room.
“We know we can get back to it but this is crunch time — you can’t just flip a switch. It’s not just going to happen because we say it’s going to happen. We have to show up tomorrow and work and push each other to get better.”
Head coach Kris Knoblauch, meanwhile, is trying to get the most out of a lineup that consists of two superstars, one of whom is having an off-season, and a bunch of guys who are playing well below the standards they set last season.
Zach Hyman is 27 points behind last year’s pace, Nugent-Hopkins is 18 points behind what he did last year at this time, Evan Bouchard is 14 points down and the bottom six is a nothing but a rumour. The two guys CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson brought in to complete the second line are turning out to be a costly mistake.
When a team can’t score, every goal against becomes a back-breaker. And it’s been nothing but back-breakers lately for a team that doesn’t defend very well and has goalies giving up one or two soft ones a night.
“A lot of it has to do with being able to handle adversity when things aren’t going well, to get yourself out of it, to score some goals,” said Knoblauch. “We’re not getting a whole lot of offence unless 97 or 29 are on the ice.
“When you’re not getting that balanced attack and more contributions it makes it tough to come from behind or win on a regular basis unless your two best players are your best players every single night. As good as they, they’re fantastic, we need some other contributions from other guys stepping up a little more.”
These are not problems the Oilers should be having at this stage of their arc. This is a veteran team that’s been there before. But it’s trending down at just the wrong time. That’s not a good sign from a team that’s supposed to be using this time of the season to steel itself for the playoffs.
The hope now is that the trade deadline can inject some life into this group. But that’s a big ask given Edmonton’s budget and their lack of trading chips. These are problems that a Trent Frederic can’t fix.
“Any time you add a guy like that it’s going to be good,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “He plays hard. Every time he’s on the ice you’re aware. And he also has some finish around the net. We’re excited to have him but it’s not like you bring in a guy or two guys and things magically start to change. We have to fix it and address it right now in the room.”
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