Last night’s win for the Edmonton Oilers was slightly different from the previous six, it was won on the back of hard work and sheer will. Senators goalie Matt Murray was on his game and for the third in a row and made scoring difficult for Edmonton until the in-form reigning MVP whipped one right through the wickets.
Two things stood out for me whilst I watched this one,
- Edmonton’s dedication to physicality
From the two fights at the onset of the game to the constant barrage of hits and puck battles from the likes of Josh Archibald, Jujhar Khaira, Kailer Yamamoto, and Jesse Puljujarvi on forward and William Lagesson, Darnell Nurse, and Adam Larsson on defense. I’ve been waiting for some time to see them buckle down and commit to that style of play. Some might say the kind of game one might find in the post-season.
There is a part of me that wonders if the quality of competition lent itself to the degree of domination the Oilers experienced last night though…
- How badly the Oilers’ third line outplayed Ottawa
The line of Ennis-Khaira-Archibald and outshot the Senators 10-5 in their nine minutes of 5v5 ice-time. I’ve been critical of Edmonton’s depth forwards recently (I think for good reason), but they really stepped up.
Am I the only one that wasn’t surprised that Brady Tkachuk didn’t step up and throw down with Zack Kassian leaving the much larger Erik Gudbranson to clean up after him? Watch at the beginning of the second clip below right at the beginning where Tkachuk rejects the offer. I guess the Tkachuk boys are more alike than we thought.
That said, when Kass and Gudbranson go, they put on a show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCARJ8rYC88
Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Sens tonight,
- #36 Colin White – He’s been one of the few Senators fully engaged in each one of their games against the Oilers and to be honest, I wasn’t aware that he had a edgy side to him. There’s a little old-school hockey in his blood and I dig it.
- #18 Tim Stutzle – Has been a constant offensive threat and at the tender age of 19 looks like an emerging star for Ottawa. I’m not sure if he’ll be a Martin Havlat or a Daniel Alfredsson at this point though. However, he brings some grit to the ice and when he’s physically mature, he’ll be a force.
- #2 Artem Zub – Former KHL standout, Zub has shown flashes of, I wouldn’t say brilliance, but he’s certainly showing that he’s got the chops to play with the big boys. Had a SF%Rel of 13.31 last night and spent most of it facing Leon Draisaitl’s line.
For Ottawa to have success, they might have to catch Edmonton’s goalie on a bad night. Lord knows that when it rains it pours on those evenings. I’ll say this though, if the Oilers decide to ice a defensive group that has more “puck-movers” than “cycle-stoppers”, they have a tendency to get stuck in their own zone against a team with more physical forwards.
Ottawa will see a swap on defense as Erik Brannstrom is out due to injury and Christian Wolanin is in.
With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,
- #93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – His offence 5v5 has all but dried up and he’s playing alongside McDavid and Puljujarvi. Bob Stauffer (630CHED) has said he’s been on the receiving end of a few 5-bell chances courtesy of Pulju and it’s only a matter of time before he starts scoring again.
- #6 Adam Larsson – The Iron Swede didn’t have the best of luck Monday evening, but he was one of the clubs best forwards on the analytics scoresheet. When he was on the ice, the Oilers had 63% of the shot share. That game was very playoff-like and he’s a player this club will need when they make the post-season.
- #16 Jujhar Khaira – Can he make it three good games in a row? The Sens play a pretty honest brand and that has seemed to have played right into JJ’s hands.
TSN’s Ryan Rishaug says that Ethan Bear is still out, Zack Kassian is week-to-week and that will bring Alex Chiasson into the lineup. Also, Mikko Koskinen will get the net in this one.
Keys to Success For the Oilers
Would it be a cop-out to say, do what they did last night? What I do want to ask you to observe though is how different Edmonton plays when Koskinen is in net versus Mike Smith. I’d be willing to bet that they’ll be less physical and their defense will be a bit more porous. In addition to that, I suspect we might see on onus on offense to the coach’s chagrin.
Can the Oilers make it four straight against Ottawa or will the Senators pull a win out of their socks?
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