The Edmonton Oilers played a strong road game against the St. Louis Blues last night, outscoring the home team 3-2 in OT. The Blues had the only five-on-five goal on the night, that’s an area the Oilers have been brilliant in since mid-November. Tonight, it’s on to Chicago for a tilt against the Blackhawks.
Do the Edmonton Oilers need a new No. 1 goaltender ahead of NHL trade deadline? Here’s the story.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN FEBRUARY
- At home to: TOR (Expected 1-0-0) (Actual 0-1-0)
- On the road to: STL, CHI (Expected 2-0-0) (Actual 1-0-0)
- At home to: COL (Expected 0-1-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- On the road to: PHI, WAS, TBY, FLA (Expected 2-2-0) (Actual 0-0-0)
- Overall expected results: 5-3-0, 10 points in 8 games
- January result: 1-1-0
- Oilers in 2024-25: 33-15-4, 70 points in 52 games
The Oilers are on a 110-point trajectory and currently sit first in the Pacific Division, up by two points with a game in hand. Tonight is a back to back, but the two cities (St. Louis and Chicago) are close. It’s a drive similar to Edmonton-Brooks, and of course the club is flying so we’re talking an hour. That said, btbs be btbs.
THE NUMBERS
It was a fine game for the Glimmer Twins, and Evan Bouchard was right there with them. When those three are rolling it’s a happy evening for all involved. I thought Connor Brown played well, Jeff Skinner was wildly effective and that Stuart Skinner contributed to the victory.
Edmonton was over 60 percent in shots and HD chances, pretty much over 60 in everything at five-on-five. I didn’t catch the reason Adam Henrique missed the game, but will guess he was under the weather. Hopefully he can play tonight, the coaching staff doesn’t use Noah Philp much at all.
Don’t look now but Corey Perry is eating everyone’s lunch on right wing, getting the cherry minutes. His skating past Binnington after the Leon goal was priceless or galling depending on your point of view. I’m so sorry Kevin Lowe didn’t make that trade 20+ years ago.
One of the areas Stan Bowman may want to look at near the deadline is PK. Edmonton is allowing 8.76 GA-60, that’s No. 23 overall. The save pct is .823 (No. 26), with Skinner at .844 (No. 25 among Gs with 100+ minutes in the discipline). I suspect it’s a team issue as opposed to Skinner, but we don’t know what Stan Bowman is thinking in this area.
At five-on-five, Skinner is No. 10 in save percentage (.923) since November 10. That’s in 22 games and over 1000 minutes, I suspect that’s enough sample to rely on but your mileage may vary.
A final point to make: Leon. Wow. What a player, what a season.
It’s Wednesday on the Lowdown and that means we get to visit with Bruce McCurdy from the Cult of Hockey at the Edmonton Journal. We start at noon and go to 2pm on Sports 1440, Bruce hits the air at 1pm. We’ll chat about all things Oilers and review last night while looking forward to tonight. We’ll get a look at the ‘Hawks, too, and Declanations is all about the NBA today. I’m at Lowetide on twitter, in the comments section here and on the Sports 1440 text line at 1.833.401.1440 directly. We can be heard at sports1440.ca; iHeartRadio, Radioplayer Canada, it’s available post-show on apple and spotify, and we tweet it out on X.
I think its close to time for:
X/McDavid/Hyman
Skinner/Drai/X
Podz/X/Arvidsson
We probably won’t see it tonight as Leon/Connor did their thing late last game and Chicago isn’t a game they need to make the split but, for me:
1) I think its time to split them up
2) I think its time to get Hyman back with McDavid as a 1st line duo
3) I think Skinner has 100% earned a top 6 opportunity (and its been more than the last couple of games).
4) Both Arvy and Podz are struggling but I want them a pair as they’ve worked well together – whether its Henrique or Nuge centering them (or even Philp I guess).
Do we think that McDavid/Drai together recently has anything to do with Leon fighting for the Rocket, the Art Ross and the Hart and, well, McDavid helps with that given the black hole of offence the “2nd tier wingers” are providing?
One of the areas Stan Bowman may want to look at near the deadline is PK. Edmonton is allowing 8.76 GA-60, that’s No. 23 overall. The save pct is .823 (No. 26), with Skinner at .844 (No. 25 among Gs with 100+ minutes in the discipline). I suspect it’s a team issue as opposed to Skinner, but we don’t know what Stan Bowman is thinking in this area.
Interesting.
We know it was historically awful for a good stretch to start the season but then was tops in the league for a nice long stretch. It has regressed recently but I would note, the 3 straight PK goals allowed didn’t have Ekholm available for any of them.
With that said, it has been uneven the last few weeks – there were a couple of goals scored right after the PK ended that were, effectively, PK goals but not counted as such.
I would suggest that Bouchard played the elite 2-way game that we got used to down the stretch and in the playoffs.
That’s two games in a row (well, after the first period on Saturday).
Bouchard has a growing history of getting very hot down the stretch and in to the playoffs – his game picks up at this time of year.
Aside from that apx 10 minute stretch in the third (started with the “meh”/”questionable” call on Ekholm and ending with the Thomas missed net), the Oilers really did dominate this game.
With that said, that stretch was very poor and without the massive break on the Thomas miss, who knows f they fight back.
The missed call on Schenn was worse than the call on Ekholm.
McDavid looks good skating and vision wise but he’s having trouble stickhandling.
I believe he has a nagging finger issue because he’s not trying any slapshots, he’s not picking corners/holes as accurately on the tenders and he bobbles more pucks weaving through defenders this season than we’ve seen in the past.
We’ve been so spoiled watching him move the puck like it’s on a string around and through people that the current flubs are glaring, unexpected and out of place.
Mcdavid could probably figure out how to play on one leg if he had to.
That’s #29 you’re talking about.
Didn’t catch the game last night and just watched the highlights now. I get excited when the Oilers don’t celebrate or even smile after goals. Business mode.
LT, re your article in The Athletic: I like it. The strongest position you’ve taken yet on this energy-waster of an issue.
“If Bowman is going to bring in a replacement for Skinner, he better be right. That’s an unnecessary risk for any manager, and a poor use of assets based on Skinner’s performance in last spring’s playoffs and his results since Nov. 23.”
Q: You made a comment on the show yesterday to the effect of *goalies are like pitchers.* I don’t know much (anything truth be told) about baseball, so I’d love to hear more.
Oilers: 3rd in the league overall. 6-3-1 in last 10 games.
Blackhawks: 2nd from the bottom of the league overall. 2-5-3 in last 10 games.
Great chance of an Oilers win tonight.
Almost guaranteed?
There are no guarantees. But I’m with you: this *should* be a win. That said, I’m hoping the team takes the game and the team seriously.
Worth noting too that the two Blackhawks wins in their last 10 have come against the Avs and the Golden Knights. The three overtime/shootout losses have come at the hands of the Preds, Hurricanes, and Lightning. So they’re going toe to toe with some serious teams lately.
Oilers have a tendency to lose games like this.
Team is tired, playing the 2nd of a back to back and your best players were well north of 20 minutes last night. Need to get off to a good start so you’re not in chase mode on weary legs come the 3rd period.
They should win, but that’s why you play the games.
This is like that Marty Reasoner “mic’d up” episode. “I’ve got a 10% score per shot percentage, so if I get 10 shots tonight I’m guaranteed a goal!”
Really liked the snapper by McDavid last night. The problem with a guy like McDavd is once you score 64 goals in a season the expectation is that you can approach that every year.
He also not coincidentally had the most shots of his career that season.
I’d like him to keep shooting.
It opens the ice up for him if he scores on shots. Otherwise they rightly focus on his passing lanes
Greater than 50 a year should be the expectation for him. He needs to think about goal scoring every game.
Respectfully there is no problem about any part of his near perfect game.
Last season he stood on the cusp of NHL playoff history and blew it.
Still in the top 5 of scoring, he might not be breaking his back to score this regular season?
Wait until the playoffs. That’s when we will see the real McDavid.
Oh, I 100% believe he is holding back. He went to Game 7 and knows what it takes. I know I am nitpicking, but isn’t that what the internet is for? 😉
You are doing a fine job.
That’s some great nitpicking.
The Oilers are in a group of around 5 legit favs to win the cup this season. I think adding a substantial scoring threat like Marchand at the deadline to play with 97, and pushing the depth down, would put them in a group of 1.
Maybe even move Arvidsson to beantown?
Upgrading Arvidsson to Marchand would be a terrific level up. Also having Marchand, Kane and Perry (one on each line) would be awesome to watch.
I’m not worried about Arvidsson he’s built for the playoffs and that’s all that matters. As for Jeff Skinner in a tight checking 1-1 game 6 on the road I’ll take a natural born goal scorer getting the winning marker of the series.
Send both to Bean-town & picks in a deal for Marchand & Kastelic.
What exactly does this mean? He’s 5’10, 185 which is small for an NHLer. His postseason stat line over the past 6 years is 23, 4-9-13 -6 (only 6 even strength points) which is pretty mediocre for a top-6 winger.
I’ve seen this characterization on this site before and it confuses me. What does “built for the playoffs” even mean?
Not sure he’s built for the playoffs. But he has a reputation for raising his level of play during the playoffs as many veteran players do. That might be what is being alluded to.
I started to watch Oilers two springs back, during their LAKings series. Who stood out for me on the Kings as major PITAs? Arvidsson and Doughty. In the next year too. You can see that now, as he’s hustling all the time, making the other team aware of his persistence.
Will he be even more of a PITA for Oilers opponents in this post-season? That’s his history. He does indeed seem “built for the playoffs.”
I was surprised to see that stat line, because it seemed to me like Arvidsson scored a bunch against the Oilers in the playoffs. Nope, 1 goal in 11 games over the last 2 series. 6 assists in 6 games in 22-23, so maybe I’m just remembering a bunch of his rebounds getting put in lol.
Arvidsson doesn’t really look physically off to me, but he hasn’t seemed to mesh with any Oilers yet. It’s like 4 guys on a team and Arvi off doing his own thing when he’s on the ice. I don’t know who his most common linemates were in Nashville and LA that led to the much better numbers.
I’ll judge Arvidsson and Skinner on their playoff performance as they are on short contracts. As for Arvidsson he goes to the net aggressively he makes his living in the tough areas while taking 3-4 cross-checks in the back he makes life tough for the opposition D-man. As you get older this style of play is not sustainable in a 82 regular season. In a tight checking series you need to get some dirt on your work boots no offence to McLeod or Foegele but it’s not in their DNA
My worry with Arvidsson is injuries are taking a toll. He’s paid the price for a willingness to go to the tough areas and now isn’t scoring.
Seems like more than a slump.
I’m having a hard time understanding all the Arvidsson love as well. He’s played mostly top 6 and has 6 goals in 38 games. He’s a little bulldog sure, but not much seems to come of it and for $4M that’s not much value. I’d move him in the right deal
Interesting he & Marchand are nearly the same size. So, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the bite in the dog. Or something like that.
I might add that Matthew Savoie is about the same size as well.
Maybe. But there are many Oilers in a “slump” right now. And yet the team keeps winning. Something different is happening here, on this team, in front of our eyes every night. Less goals. More wins. Lots of shots – by many players. Apparently there’s a thing called “regression.” The shots will start finding their way into the back of the net. Stay the course (even though it’s way more exciting -that’s the adrenaline/dopamine rush- to be worrying and wanting to upset the cart Knoblauch et al are wheeling towards Stanley).
https://x.com/ConAirNcCagevid/status/1886982839079723378?s=19
Injury news from last night’s O.T
had to login just to say thanks!…Ha…perfect!!
Seconded and Thirded lol
I know there’s been a lot comments (on blogs and in media) about Bouchard, but I would like to frame the conversation a bit. in the last ten games he has 10 points and is +9. He’s on pace for 65 points and +32. If he continues his current play he’ll likely finish with more than 70 points and close to +40 on the season. That will put him number 3 in scoring and number 2 in plus/minus for the oilers. playing against elites. That’s a pretty good season.
I have no worries about Bouch’s ability to contribute. In fact I’m back to Ownership Group thinking where I hope he struggles enough to keep his price down.
I feel the posters on this blog generally agree he is a phenomenal player. But I also feel he can improve. These aren’t mutually exclusive opinions.
He can cut down on his mental gaffes and become one of the greatest of this era. The errors he makes are completely mental and can be ‘coached’. The Coffey article over the weekend was perfect. Call Bouch to attention and challenge him to be better. This is what the best in the game do.
Folks, can we please stop and savour what happened last night?
We have the best player of our generation and the most exciting player to watch in hockey history. (And he’s not even our leading scorer right now!)
He won the game in overtime with a dazzling play.
That play involved single-handedly undressing the exact two players who tried to screw us over with offer sheets.
The *exact two*! What were the odds that those two would be on the ice, in exactly that position, to lose the game for St. Louis?
What a beautiful Oiler moment. Poetic justice hardly gets better than this.
It was both sweet and savory 🙂
There’s plenty of debate of what the Oilers “need” at the deadline (goalie, Dman, PK help, scoring). Is there a case to be made that the “best player available” is the way to go? If this team is as good as we hope, then plug in the highest quality acquisition you can get wherever in the lineup…a “A” grade forward beats a “B” grade goalie or Dman regardless of specific need in this scenario
Buy Canadian … Crosby or Marchand (which ever one becomes available at the TDL).
Was thrilled to watch the Oilers last night.
Right from the start of the game they totally dominated; got a little bored and allowed St Louis to score a couple before coming back with Leon Beliveau/ Drasaiitl.
McDavid is obviously dogging it this regular season waiting for the playoffs. Even still he’s easily in the top 5 in scoring(Gordie Howe territory).
Yessiree…this season is shaping up like none other this century.
As of last night McDavid tied for fourth in scoring, with a bullet (was way down in the list a few weeks ago).