Welcome to The Week In Review According To Me (TWIRATOME), a regular Monday feature breaking down the week that was for the Edmonton Oilers. Most weeks might take on the feel of an autopsy, sifting through symptoms and clues to determine the cause of disaster, but all are worthy of examination before moving forward.
What Happened?
The Oilers kept things rolling on Monday, shutting out the Montreal Canadiens, 3-0, for their fourth consecutive win. Beer flowed, laughter rolled, children were consummated. Then the week continued. Edmonton was dismantled by the Nashville Predators on Wednesday, getting trounced in a 4-1 contest that could have been twice as lopsided. Wrapping up their seven-game homestand on Saturday, the Oilers lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2. Any and all good vibes had evaporated by the week’s end.
Standings Snapshot
After a few days of reprieve, the Oilers are back in the basement again. Edmonton’s embarrassment is compounded by the fact that the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks have exceeded expectations. The Arizona Coyotes have an identical record and a worse goal differential, but you have to give them the edge considering they clobbered the Oilers by three goals in the teams’ only meeting of the season. The climb is steep, even factoring in the game or two in hand over squads higher in the standings.
Best Reason to Freak Out
Taylor Hall suffered an MCL sprain on Saturday, and he’s expected to miss the next two to four weeks. Imagine for a moment that two youngsters take turns selecting players from the current Oilers roster—schoolyard style—attempting to ice the worst team possible. The captains nearly come to blows over who gets to select Will Acton with the first pick. Keith Aulie goes next. Proceed in any order you’d like, but Taylor Hall is the final pick—the reverse equivalent of the obese kid who throws like Kimmy Gibbler.
Week’s Worst Moment
Seeing Hall clang off the goalpost was a rough moment, but at least it made sense and didn’t anger me. However, Ben Scrivens’ pass that resulted in Vancouver’s game-winning shorthanded goal was the week’s most incomprehensible, exasperating, gut-churning moment. How infuriating was it? It made me want to kick my dog, and I don’t even own a dog. That’s right. Scrivens’ gaffe made me want to adopt a stray dog for the express purpose of kicking it. Calm down PETA freaks, the feeling subsided within 20-25 minutes.
Week’s Best Moment
I’d like to say the week’s best moment was the final buzzer sounding Scrivens’ shutout win over the Habs, or David Perron scoring his first of the year to even the score against Vancouver. However, I can’t lie. The week’s best moment came when Andrew Ference drilled Zack Kassian in the kisser and sent him sprawling. The brain bucket took flight, the unrepentant chucklehead went down like a sack of hammers, and the home crowd was able to cheer the misfortune of Edmonton’s Public Enemy No. 1.
Special Teams Report
PP: 5/34 – 14.7% (down from 21.7% last week)
PK: 26/32 – 81.2% (up from 75% last week)
Like the Hangover trilogy, the Oilers power play has gradually gone from wonderful to troubling to unmitigated disaster over the course of the season. Edmonton was outscored with the man advantage last week, failing to convert on 11 opportunities while giving up a shorthanded goal. By my count, the Oilers are 2-for-28 on the power play in the last three weeks. On the flip side, the penalty kill is humming right along, going a perfect 8-for-8 last week and helping to keep defeat margins respectable.
Completely Useless Advanced Stat
Nikita Nikitin’s OZ Start % (64.1) vs. OZ Finish % (48.9)
Nikitin has the highest even-strength offensive zone start percentage (64.1) among regular Oilers defensemen. He also has the lowest even-strength offensive zone finish percentage (48.9), which indicates the ice tilts dangerously against the Oilers when Nikitin is playing. Wait, if that’s the case then why is everyone clamoring for Nikitin’s return and demanding that Brad Hunt (57.4 OZS% vs. 50.8 OZF%) be banished? Because advanced stats are horribly flawed and can be used to manipulate any argument.
Simple Stats
Goaltending Glance
LVP of the Week
Brad Hunt wasn’t on the ice during any of Edmonton’s six goals last week, but he was present for three of the seven goals given up. That’s bad. He was also directly responsible for all three of them, either allowing an odd-man rush by getting caught up ice or failing to clear rebounds. That’s worse. Hunt had the second-highest ice-time among Oilers defencemen Saturday (19:30) and was placed on waivers Sunday. I don’t know why, but we’ll keep assuming that management and coaches know what they’re doing.
MVP of the Week
Typically, I don’t like giving the MVP award to a player who didn’t record a point and had a -2 plus-minus through three games, but Boyd Gordon isn’t your typical player. He blocked five shots and an offensive onslaught to help secure the win over Montreal. Gordon won 13 of 17 draws (13 of them in the defensive zone) against Nashville. He kept his motor running when the entire team seemed to stall versus Vancouver. It was an up-and-down week for the Oilers, but Gordon was remarkably consistent.
Looking Ahead
Hall is on the shelf and Ference will miss the next three games with a suspension, but the Oilers kick off a five-game road trip Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. Easy as a root canal. The Boston Bruins await on Thursday for the first of back-to-back games, with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Oilers on Friday. Edmonton closes out a stretch of four games in six nights on Sunday, squaring off against the New York Rangers. Bright side: Unbeaten against the East. Dark side: Allowed 18 goals in three road games.
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