Game 18 2022-23: Golden Knights at Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are struggling during November. Even with a poor record (3-5-0) a win tonight puts the team at 10-8-0 after 18 games and on a 91-point trajectory. There was talk of Edmonton winning the division before the season began, and a win tonight would get the Oilers within eight points of Vegas with each team playing the same number of games.

Eight points in the Bettman NHL is a gap of about six weeks for a good team playing well. If this Oilers team has ideas about the division title, a win tonight is necessary. It’s also important for the team’s playoff hopes so the game has some real drama despite coming early in the year.

THE ATHLETIC!

• New DNB and Jesse Granger: Is the Connor McDavid vs. Jack Eichel rivalry finally about to become reality?
• Lowetide: How the Oilers can replace Evander Kane’s production on a budget
• Lowetide: Why the Oilers need to trade for an established defenceman
• Lowetide: Five curious Oilers trends that may or may not regress
• Lowetide: What’s Xavier Bourgault’s NHL ETA? Does he get a look this season?
• DNB: Stuart Skinner’s 40 saves lift Oilers over Panthers
• Lowetide: What should the Edmonton Oilers expect from Klim Kostin?
• DNB: Oilers must learn how to cope without Evander Kane
• Lowetide: How close to balanced are the 2022-23 Edmonton Oilers?
• DNB: Oilers’ Evander Kane hospitalized after skate blade cuts his arm
• Lowetide: Oilers top prospect is unclear for the first time in a dozen years
• DNB: Why Oilers’ latest ‘pathetic’ performance from Jack Campbell is a growing issue
• Lowetide: Oilers rookie Stuart Skinner is chasing history
• DNB: Ryan Smyth on Oilers memories, keepsakes and the current team: Q&A
• Lowetide: Making room for Dylan Holloway
• Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers start October slow but finish month strong
• DNB: The Oilers have a third line that’s settling in
• Jonathan Willis: Jakob Chychrun would look good on the Oilers, but is there a deal to be had?
• Lowetide: Edmonton Oilers reasonable expectations for every player in 2022-23
• Lowetide: Oilers top-20 prospects, summer 2022

WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER

• At home to: NAS, NJD, DAL (Expected 2-1-0) (Actual 1-2-0)
• On the road to: WAS, TBY, CAR, FLA (Expected 1-2-1) (Actual 2-2-0)
• At home to: LAK, VEG (Expected 1-0-1) (Actual 0-1-0)
• On the road to: NJD, NYI, NYR (Expected (1-1-1) (Actual 0-0-0)
• At home to: FLA (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• On the road to: CHI (Expected (1-0-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
• November expected result: 7-4-3, 17 points in 14 games
• Actual November results: 3-5-0, 6 points in 8 games
• October results: 6-3-0, 12 points in 9 games
• Oilers in 2022-23: 9-8-0, 18 points in 17 games

Plenty of upset about the line shuffle by Jay Woodcroft yesterday, but the team is struggling and moving players around the roster can freshen things. Many fans are focused on one player being moved down the lineup but for me this is a team-wide slump.

Using five-on-five numbers, and centers as proxy for each line, Edmonton’s four lines look like this:

• McDavid solo: 10-11 (48 percent)
• Draisaitl solo: 10-13 (43.5 percent)
• 97-29 together: 3-2 (60 percent)
• McLeod: 4-7 (36 percent)
• Others: 3-4 (43 percent)

I’m not sure there’s a line that can argue in favour of staying intact in this group. This is poor by any stretch and my guess is the tweaks will bring a mixed bag of results and we’ll be looking at five or six line combinations by the end of the night. I’m not especially enamored with the chosen lines, but Evander Kane and Kailer Yamamoto being absent limits the options.

OILERS POSSIBLE ROSTER

I think fans can correctly ask why Warren Foegele moves up and Jesse Puljujarvi down, but the fact remains that both men (and Kailer Yamamoto) have had plenty of track (coming up on 20 games) without scoring much at five-on-five. I would move Holloway up, but that’s not yet in the cards and I respect the decision by the coach. Bakersfield is an option for Holloway and one I think Edmonton should utilize at this time That’s a change in direction for me, but the shuffle came and Holloway remains at the bottom of the deck. Time to send him down.

Brad Malone got the call yesterday, speculation has Kailer Yamamoto unlikely to go on the road trip and perhaps we see Holloway sent out. Malone is an admirable player, working hard for a decade in the minors in order to be an NHL option (he has played 209 NHL games). He brings some rugged play and checking skills, and is a center. He is 33 years old and was chosen eight picks after Linus Omark in the 2007 draft. Malone’s 209 games makes him a draft success considering round he was chosen (fourth) and overall selection (No. 105).

CONDORS GET FLATTENED

Xavier Bourgault and Philip Broberg picked up assists on the Seth Griffith goal last night, making the score 5-1 for the Calgary Wranglers at the final whistle. The Condors PK was putrid and Calgary has plenty of skill. The two teams play again tonight and one expects a better effort.

I’m getting ready to publish the winter top 20 in early December and am most interested in Philip Broberg’s progress. There were many comments about his preseason performance, one of the things I wanted to track once he began playing was his current levels versus last season.

Offensively, he’s on track. Broberg is 2-1-3 in five games, down slightly in points-per-game from last year (.71) but nothing that random can’t explain. Last year at even strength, Broberg’s on-ice goal differential was 30-15 (67 percent), No. 1 among the Condors 2021-22 blue. This season? Interesting early results.

Broberg is at 50 percent with 2-2 goals over five games. That means the offense is low-event compared to Phil Kemp and Mike Kesselring (19 goals in 13 games). Miles to go in order to reach last season’s heights, but the Broberg minutes aren’t a drag and the young man is building a story. Many Oilers fans see Broberg and think Trevor Zegras and I get it, but that conversation isn’t germane to the evaluation of Broberg as a player. I think we’ll see him in the NHL soon.