2021-22 Game 71: Oilers at Sharks

Photo by Trevor Wear

My Dad had all kinds of unusual phrases he would use at timely moments, but when you’re a kid the phrases seem normal. Items like “burning daylight” (you’re wasting time) and “get a box” (have a place for everything and keep it there) plus “living high on the hog” (spending money you don’t have”) and “ride that nag until it drops” (his way of telling Mom we weren’t selling the car) seemed normal.

One of my least favourite phrases was “send a boy to do a man’s job” which was often followed by repeating a task that he didn’t think was done well. NHL teams can’t make players replay a shift, but they can park your ass. I think Jay Woodcroft is almost there with a few Oilers forwards, and wonder if we see a tweak tonight on the third line.

THE ATHLETIC!

• Lowetide: Making the final call on the Oilers 2017 draft
• Lowetide: How many more college players will Oilers sign this spring?
• DNB: Oilers fend off Blues but will need to fix defensive woes
• Lowetide: Strong March puts Oilers in position for top-3 finish in Pacific Division
• DNB: Connor McDavid at 100 points
• Lowetide: Early look at Oilers free-agent targets for 2022 offseason
• DNB: Why Ryan McLeod’s best outing matters so much to the Oilers
• Lowetide: 3 changes Jay Woodcroft could make immediately to improve Oilers
• Lowetide: The legend of Oilers prospect Matvei Petrov continues to grow
• DNB: Oilers’ defensive warts on full display in critical game against hated Flames
• Lowetide: Are Oilers approaching a crossroads with Zack Kassian?
• DNB: Should Oilers budget for Evander Kane beyond this season?
• Lowetide: Oilers’ 2022 draft strategy takes shape after trade deadline
• Lowetide: 7 Condors who could impact Oilers’ fortunes in the playoffs
• DNB: How Jesse Puljujarvi, as a player and person, became perfect fit for Oilers
• Lowetide: Ryan McLeod’s case for a spot on Oilers’ skill lines
• Lowetide: Revisiting the Oilers’ choice of Evan Bouchard in the 2018 draft
• Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects, winter 2021

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM APRIL

• At home to: STL (Expected 0-0-1) (Actual 1-0-0)
• On the road to: ANA, SJS, LAK (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
• At home to: COL (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• On the road to: MIN, NAS (Expected 1-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• At home to: VEG, DAL, COL (Expected 1-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• On the road to: CBJ, PIT (Expected 1-1-0) Actual 0-0-0)
• At home to: SJS, VAN (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• Overall expected result: 7-6-1, 15 points in 14 games
• Actual April results: 2-0-0, 4 points in two games
• Oilers in 2021-22: 40-25-5, 85 points in 70 games

If you’re an Oilers fan, and I think over 50 percent of the people who read this blog are, then all you’re hoping for is the team ‘rides that nag until it drops’ and makes this winning streak at least four games long. This year’s Oilers serve only long winning streaks and long losing streaks, there’s no neutral ground. If you gotta serve somebody, make it the letter W.

Edmonton is a single point behind Los Angeles with two games in hand, so could be stone alone second-place in the Pacific with a win tonight. Just as important, a win tonight places the Oilers five points up on Vegas, both teams will have 11 games to play after tonight. That’s a significant gap any time in the Bettman era, especially with so few games left. That six-game run that has Colorado bookends will be the final hurdle. I have the team going 2-4-0, believe that’s reasonable.

OILERS FORWARDS FIVE-ON-FIVE PER 60 SINCE WOODCROFT ARRIVED

These are the numbers since Jay Woodcroft arrived as coach, five-on-five points-per-60. Who are your 12 forwards? The first five names for sure, Brad Malone isn’t available, but is followed by Shore, Kane, Brassard, Yamamoto, Nuge, Foegele and McLeod. Woodcroft is likely to rest Shore and play Kassian. Do you agree? Remember this is just scoring, there are more elements to the game.

LEON’S FINAL 12 GAMES

Mr. Draisaitl has 50 goals and a dozen games to go in the season. If he continues on his current pace, it’s reasonable to expect 6-8 goals over the remainder of the season (if he plays all the games). Did you know that no Oilers player has posted a season with enough goals to be inside the top-10 single season totals since 1986-87? Yeah, tough team. However, the No. 9 spot is a three way tie between Jari Kurri (1986-87) and two Glenn Anderson seasons (1983-84, 1985-86), all three seasons 54 goals. If Leon can reach or exceed, he’ll be the first make to crack the top-10 goal scorers in a single season in 36 years.

OILERS DEFENSE SINCE MANSON ARRIVED

This is sorted by goal share and shows the state of the six starters. Everyone is doing well in all categories save Evan Bouchard who has one outlier (goals-for percentage) and he’s had some tough moments. Manson keeps playing him though, and that includes 1:46 a night on the power play. Music! Play the man, that’s how he’ll get better, and of course the underlying numbers are solid to excellent so we’ll also be looking for regression.

LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE

At 10 this morning, TSN1260. We’ll preview the Oilers-Sharks game, Tyler Yaremchuk from Daily Faceoff pops by to talk about the Oilers and possible lineup changes. James Hinchcliffe is a race car driver and an ambassador for Formula E and the Canadian E Grand Prix in Vancouver on Canada Day weekend. We’ll talk about the sport and the race. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!