Oilers looked tired which is understandable considering they as
@TAS said, have played 3 games in 4 nights. On top of that, Calgary is playing with no pressure right now, and are super motivated to beat their provincial rivals. Definitely not an excuse for a flat performance, but could explain some of it. I also think the shot clock was more tilted than the play actual play on the ice. Calgary was doing their usual method of quantity over quality. Taking lots of low percentage shots from the perimeter, inflating their shot total when compared to the actual offensive zone time and pressure. That being said, Calgary was the better team for sure in that one.
Two things saved the Oilers in that game:
Pickard and the post
Pickard made the saves he had to, and most of the time when he was beaten, it was off the iron. Definitely lucky to come out of there with two points. The reffing was terrible, but equally terrible on both sides, so it didn't have much of an effect on the outcome.
Now, the Kane and Perry situation:
If the rumours about Kane complaining about his ice time, despite months of subpar play are true, I love this from Perry. The more I see from them, comments to the media and so on, the more I think this is the case. Perry saying it's important to put your ego away, put your head down and just play, and Kane's attitude on the ice and the bench... show it more and more. He needs an ego check, and who better to give it to him than a guy who has won it all. Even if it doesn't help Kane specifically, it's important to do that for the team as whole.
Another thing I noticed: McLeod had a good game, I've been disappointed with his work ethic and decision making as of late. He's been struggling in board battles, and his defensive awareness and puck handling in his own end have been... questionable. He's been leaving me scratching my head lately. That being said, I thought he quietly played a very strong game last night. If he continues to play like that, he might go on a goal scoring tear again, just in time for the playoffs.
Nurse also had a great rebound game after an awful showing against the Stars, and Ekholm continues to tear it up. Overall, I'm not too worried about this team at all. I have only 3 main concerns going into playoff time:
1. Can the goaltending be consistent when the lights shine the brightest: Stu had an underwhelming playoffs last year, can he put that behind him and put up a strong showing this time around. This team is good enough they don't need elite net minding, just be decently good.
2. Can they figure out the penalty kill: This is an enigma for me, throughout parts of the season this PK looks absolutely amazing and then goes through stretches where it is absolutely terrible. It needs to hold up in the playoffs as we already know with either LA or Vegas, the Oilers will be facing the other team's powerplay a lot.
3. Can they inject some life into the powerplay: I never thought I'd say this about the Oilers and I know they scored a couple times last night, but the powerplay has looked anemic and I think Knoblauch agrees. He's been switching to the second unit a lot sooner than he typically does. It looks like they're just standing around passing the puck, trying to hit Drai backdoor the whole time. They only have about 4-5 plays now that they keep going back to and it's getting predictable. The powerplay has been such a strength and has almost guaranteed some offense for the Oilers over the past few seasons, especially in the playoffs. It's not been a huge deal as the scoring 5 on 5 is excellent, but if you don't have a scary powerplay, teams will feel okay about taking liberties on you if they think they aren't going to get punished for it. Also, they aren't going to get many PP opportunities against LA and Vegas thanks to Gary, so you have to make the ones you do get count.
