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What Is This Oilers Team? |
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Old. Slow. Too much focus on scoring. Not scoring enough. These are just some of the words that have been used to describe the 24/25 Edmonton Oilers.
I would like to add to that pile "unengaged" and "uninspired." The game last night against the Canadiens was a perfect encapsulation of this team's season. The shots were 30 to 25 in the Oilers favor but that really did not tell the whole story. Edmonton spent the entire game on the perimeter, firing weak shots with no chance against Sam Montembeault with no effort at going after rebounds.
Prior to that game the Oilers last three games are as followed:
A 4-3OT win against the Islanders after giving up a third period lead.
A 3-2OT win against the Predators after giving up a third period lead.
A 4-3OT loss against the Leafs after giving up a third period lead.
Now the analytically driven part of me wants to talk about a year ago at this point. The 23/24 Oilers after November 19th last season had scored 27 goals at 5 on 5, while allowing 37. Despite that they had the 2nd best xGF at 41.7 and the 10th best xGA at 31.59. They had a 0.895SV% which was the 4th worst in the NHL and the 2nd lowest PDO in the NHL at 0.959. It was roughly around this time where things started to finally click for the Oilers and they regressed back to the mean and won 8 games in a row followed by another 16 and looked like a Cup contender for the rest of the season.
This year in 19 games the Oilers have scored 33 goals for at 5 on 5 while allowing 37. They have the 2nd best xGF at 45.57 and the 17th best xGA at 36.55. They have the 12th worst SV% at 0.906 and the 5th worst PDO at 0.969.
Based on these numbers we should not be surprised to see the Oilers suddenly go on a lengthy surge and once again look like a top team in the NHL... but right now I am having a hard time believing that.
Last season there was a feeling even in the rough times that this team was close to breaking through... I don't have that same sense this season. Without any proven information to back it up, this team really feels like they are still devastated by their Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 defeat. I don't know if that is true but this just looks like a group of players that don't seem interested in playing regular season games. If they keep this up they won't have any playoff games to worry about.
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Once again I ask, what is this Oilers team? They aren't a high octane team that is trying to outscore their mistakes; they sit 22nd in goal scoring and 21st in goals against. They aren't a team that relies on their powerplay; which has scored the third fewest goals this season. They are not a physical team that pushes their opponent around; they have the second fewest hits in the NHL.
Right now I see a group of players... not a team, completely without identity. I see good players and I see bad players and I see everyone else. I don't see any one trade or move that suddenly fixes that. All that we know is how they are currently playing simply is not working.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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