Edmonton has the rare opportunity to play someone who is lower than themselves in the standings tonight. It’s true, Buffalo is actually worse than Edmonton. Isn’t that nice!
The Oilers finally played a solid game and came out the victor against the Red Wings. It was a performance that they all needed. All the things that we highlighted as necessary for the win were on display. The 3rd line contributed. Maroon and Draisaitl did their thing away from McDavid. McDavid drove a line with inferior linemates and still made magic happen.
What we’re seeing here with McDavid and Caggiula is less about Caggiula finding his scoring touch, in my humble opinion, and a lot more to do with the reality of having a generational talent. Just like Crosby made magic with Kunitz and whichever slug the Penguins could find, McDavid will do the same in Edmonton. He creates opportunities at such a pace that merely competent players will be able to cash in.
Edmonton does not need Draisiatl to play with McDavid. Obviously when the team is down a goal and needs to score they can re-unite that dynamic duo and put their best foot forward, but it probably isn’t necessary 82 games a year. If Draisaitl can make the 2nd line as lethal as a McDavid led 1st line then that benefits the team so much more.
It’s true that Draisaitl is being paid to be the 2C of the Oilers, but he’s been much better as a RW over the course of his career. It’s probably best to think of him as a Pavelski style winger who takes faceoffs and can be a center for a time, but is better with the overall responsibilities of a winger. He’s a hybrid forward and has been for a season and a half at least.
What players who are new to the McDavid experience need to learn is timing and expectation. Whenever McDavid plays with someone new they always look shocked to see the puck find them. Sometimes that’s because they figured 97 was going to take the shot. Sometimes its because they’ve never seen a human make the plays that 97 can make. It’s natural in either case, but McDavid’s wingers –whether it’s Lucic, Maroon, Draisaitl, or Caggiula- have to be ready to receive the next pass. It’s coming.
Caggiula has been given a push and he has produced 3-1-4 in the last three games. You cant ask for too much out of a player who is still been getting limited minutes even on McDavid’s wing. One thing I am looking out for, though, is if he and McDavid can push for more possession time. Caggiula is getting the patented McDavid chances and timing down a bit, but they aren’t dominating the shot clock. That’s the next step here for the new top line.
LINEUP
Brossoit gets the start tonight. Come on, kid. Don’t let us down.
Lucic McDavid Caggiula
Maroon RNH Draisaitl
Khaira Strome Puljujarvi
Cammalleri Letestu Kassian
Klefbom Benning
Nurse Larsson
Auvitu Russell
Brossoit
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Jesse’s Shot. Jesse Puljujarvi has already doubled his NHL goal total from last year and he’s done it in 21 fewer games. Ok. That was a little tongue-in-cheek since he only had 1 last year and has only 2 now, but still. He’s improved his shots per game from 1.46 to 2.14 this season. That’s good. That said, Puljujarvi isn’t playing that much still and definitely hasn’t found a home on one of the PP units yet. 5v5 he has the highest shots per 60 minutes (9.74 Shots/60) of the remaining Oilers on the team (technically Yamamoto was 1st). Again, that’s up from last year. With the one-timer that he’s shown off, there’s a decent chance he finds himself in a shooter’s position on the Power Play eventually and then this thing starts to take off.
2) Keep Moving. The Oilers are a team that isn’t naturally fast. I mean, they have McDavid who is dialed to 11 always, but after that the club has to make an effort to move their feet. When Johann Auvitu plays he may feel like a total wildcard, but he does force the team to get the lead out. Auvitu is a defender who finds himself so far up in the play that he often ends up forechecking behind the icing line. He plays with pace, as the hockey men like to say. That’s a good thing for this team since they need a push to do exactly that. Yeah, it can get frantic, but when he is on the ice, the Oilers are skating. Now, when you look at the shot attempts with Auvitu on the ice, it’s all tilted Edmonton’s way. He’s aggressive and it works.
3) Eichel Pile On. So Jack Eichel is getting dragged by his local media in a way that feels very similar for Oiler fans who remember Taylor Hall somehow being the problem on a team that is completely awful. One of the ways in which he’s getting trashed by the out-moded media is in plus/minus. Eichel is a brutal -8 on the year. As Jonathan Willis of Sportsnet points out though,
that’s hot trash. Eichel is actually only -1 in 5v5 goal differential. The extremely flawed +/- stat counts shorties against and goals scored with the net empty against you. Bad teams that find themselves down late in games get even worse in this measure because they are the ones pulling their goalies. The truth is that Jack Eichel is the only Sabre player with a positive goal differential at all. He is +1 in all situations. Kane is 0 (even). Everyone else is negative. Eichel is without a doubt the best thing going for that organization.
Puck drops tonight at 5PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet. Game On!
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