In the NHL, as in life, you’ve got to learn to take the good with the bad.
And for the Edmonton Oilers, their current run of 3-7 in their last 10 games is as bad as it’s gotten this season. Especially when compared to the momentous run of 24-7-2 that preceded it.
But for as poor as things are going right now, you can’t take anything away from the incredible season Leon Draisaitl has continued to put together through thick and thin.
With just 18 games left on the schedule, Edmonton’s second-line centre has a double-digit lead in the goal-scoring race as he sits at the top with 46, along with a league-leading 31 even-strength goals and 15 power-play goals, while sitting tied for first with nine game-winning goals.
In the overall points race, Draisaitl has 97 in 64 games, second only to Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, who has five more in 66 games.
That puts the Oilers superstar on pace for 124 points this season, including what would be a career-high 59 goals.
While their current four-game road trip didn’t get off to the best of starts Monday, in a 3-2 loss to a Buffalo Sabres squad that sits last in the Eastern Conference, Draisaitl assisted on both goals to extend his personal point streak to a career-high 15 games (11 goals, 12 assists).
And while he has certainly benefitted from getting moved up to the top line from time to time to play on Connor McDavid’s left wing — not to mention the power play — Draisaitl’s been able to put up consistent numbers five-on-five while spending the majority of his time centering a second line that’s seen a veritable hodgepodge of wingers throughout the season.
On his right side, he’s had Viktor Arvidsson, Zach Hyman, Kasperi Kapanen and Connor Brown, while his left wing has seen Vasily Podkolzin, Jeff Skinner and Mattias Janmark.
Case in point, Skinner’s been all up and down the lineup, while also spending 10 off of it as a healthy scratch, but returned to the lineup on this road trip, beginning with his first game back in Buffalo, where he spent the past six seasons, getting in on the third line alongside Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown.
But in Wednesday’s practice, Skinner found himself promoted next to none other than the league’s leading goal scorer. on the second line.
“Obviously, he’s a great player,” Skinner said of Draisaitl. “So, he creates a lot of space and for wingers, that’s a nice thing to have that in the middle.
“Obviously, he garners a lot of attention from the other team, so you have to be aware of who you’re out there against. I think that’s probably the main thing. Other than that, just kind of play your game, try and build on good things in your game and work together to try and create stuff.”
All the actual content creation, of course, has been done by Draisaitl, as far as the stats sheet is concerned. His main linemates this season: Podkolzin, Skinner and Arvidsson; have combined for just 25 goals and 37 assists, so far — five shy of Draisaitl’s 67 even-strength points alone.
And with the latest lineup maneuver, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is hoping Skinner can begin evening out the numbers a little more.
“He’s a guy we feel that if he’s going to play that he’s complementary of playing with skilled players,” Knoblauch said. “He’s a guy who can score goals. And the other night, we did some switching later on in the game, but Janmark, Brown and himself in the first period, and I felt they might have been our best line in that period.
“But with Janmark an uncertainty tomorrow night, that is a good chance that’s where Skinner will be playing.”
In and out: Janmark missed Wednesday’s practice due to illness,
“He’s sick, stayed back at the hotel,” Knoblauch said. “Hopefully, he’s playing tomorrow.”
In the meantime, Adam Henrique moved up from the fourth line to centre the third in Janmark’s place, while Podkolzin moved down from the second line to swap spots with Skinner at third-line left wing, and Kasperi Kapanen drew back in the lineup to play fourth-line centre.
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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.
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. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun