Is it panic time in Edmonton?
The Oilers have won just two of their last 11 games and are now clinging to a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna talked about how worried the Oilers should be about this recent skid and what they can do to get out of it.
Seravalli: “The Edmonton Oilers are in a downward spiral and there are lots of questions about where that team stands at the moment. You take a look at some of the numbers and they’ve been pretty ugly for a pretty long time. Going back to December 1, 28th in the league in points percentage, only the very worst teams in the league are below the Oilers.
They’re holding down the second wild-card spot in the West, this is a team that got off to a fantastic start at 9-1-0, the rumors and speculation around head coach Dave Tippett have been queued up, and now Mike Smith is on the shelf with an upper-body injury.
What’s your level of concern with the Oilers on a 1-10 scale this season?”
McKenna: “I’d say a strong seven right now.
Everything that you’d have expected coming into the season is happening right now. They haven’t had depth scoring, they basically have five forwards that are producing, and, beyond that, they’re non-existent up front.
Defensively, they’re not hard on pucks and they’re not getting goaltending. The goalie who’s done the best for them is Stuart Skinner and he’s down in the AHL right now. Mike Smith is 39 years old. When he’s healthy, he’s good. But he’s not healthy very often anymore. The last two games weren’t good for him, he looked completely out of sync, and Koskinen just hasn’t been there.
I think the confidence to that throughout the team is ‘hey man, we’re not getting these saves anymore and we’re not scoring at 50 percent on the power-play.’
All of that creates this vortex where the Oilers are now trying to find themselves because they aren’t scoring on the power-play, they’re not scoring at 5-on-5, but I think it all goes through Connor McDavid.
Maybe John Tortorella was more right than a lot of people thought when he said that McDavid would have to change the way he plays. Not offensively, but man he’s got to be harder defensively, he’s got to want the puck. He’s gotta be able to move his feet, close gaps in the defensive zone. Because right now, Edmonton isn’t defending the front of the net, they’re not getting to the front of the net at the other end. They’re just straight-up not playing hard enough.
The person you always look to is your captain. He’s going to have to carry this team, not just on the offensive side of the puck, but the defensive as well."
You can watch the full episode here…
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