Two goals is apparently asking too much of the Oilers’ offence
Playoff hopes are evaporating with one regulation goal or less in last six games
The wise Roger Neilson had a reputation as a defence-oriented NHL coach, but Captain Video also told his players: “It’s a race to four goals because 72 per cent of the time if you do that, you win.”
If you’re a member of the Edmonton Oilers this year, it’s a race to two.
In the last six games, they’ve scored one or fewer goals in regulation.
That would look good on a golf scorecard if you’re talking putts over a six-hole stretch, but this is hockey. Only two forwards have scored — Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Defencemen Kris Russell and Darnell Nurse have the others. They managed a victory over Anaheim goalie John Gibson with Russell scoring one through 60 minutes, followed by two more in a shootout.
But, predictably, they’ve lost the other five. On Friday, they get to try their luck again against the Arizona Coyotes.
It’s a 3-2 league and the Oilers, now 24th in goals per game, can’t score more than one.
Mark Letestu hasn’t scored in 10 games. Milan Lucic, Ryan Strome and Patrick Maroon have none in eight. Jujhar Khaira has zip in seven games. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi have nothing to show in six. If you add up those droughts, it’s no goals on a collective 66 shots. Letestu isn’t a top-nine forward like the others, but he’s on the power play, so he figures into this group.
If you take the last six Oilers games, they’ve also had 13 power plays and nothing to show for it, mainly because they don’t shoot enough. And they have no bomber from the point, which allows the opposition to clog up the high-slot area.
Every now and then you might win 1-0, but that hasn’t happened once for the Oilers this season.
So we’ll trot out the usual, “We need some dirty goals ... we have to go the net more ... we have to take the goalie’s eyes away with a screen ... we could use one off our butt or face, etc.” These are what you hear when a team can’t score. But while we’ve been talking ad nauseam about the Oilers’ penalty killing this season, it’s also a team that’s had 15 games where it has scored one or fewer goals over 60 minutes. That’s one out of every three games.
We’re not breaking new ground by saying most of the Oilers’ goals are coming from their centres, not the wingers. And yes, we know Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle would help there.
McDavid has 15. Nugent-Hopkins has 15. Draisaitl, while playing right wing and the middle, has 11. No wingers are in double figures and the season is half over.
Lucic and Maroon have nine, Puljujarvi has eight and Strome has seven, same as Khaira.
“I’ve always found you have to simplify things when you’re not scoring. Slinging pucks from the corner. Two-on-ones and not passing up on a shot. We need some confidence in the scoring areas,” said Lucic. “When I’ve been in slumps before, I go back to watch goals I scored in the past to remind myself how I scored them. Mentally, you can get yourself going.
“It’s on us forwards and the defence to score more goals. We were able to do it in the first two games after the Christmas break, but unfortunately we let in way too many. But since then, it’s one a game or less in the last six. We
We’ve got lots of guys with track records of scoring goals. Hopefully it comes before it’s no longer needed.
have to be harder on ourselves and bear down.”
And start scoring two, if not three, goals a game before their playoff window shuts entirely.
“Teams and players all go through slumps,” said Letestu.
“I don’t think there’s a secret recipe where you can say: ‘OK, every time I get the puck I’m going to shoot and score.’ I do feel you have to make a conscious effort to be around the net where goals are scored, though. And trust it’ll happen. We’ve got lots of guys with track records of scoring goals. Hopefully it comes before it’s no longer needed.
“I agree, it is a 3-2 league and even the best defensive teams give up one or two goals a game. It’s unreasonable to think we have to win 1-0 games. That’ll happen every now and then, but your mindset should be trying to get to four goals.”
Just as Neilson said.
And Oilers coach Todd McLellan doesn’t argue.
“The volume of shooting chances has to go up,” he said. “We’ve had good looks at empty nets, but instead of putting it through the back of the net, maybe we should be trying to relax and just put the puck into the net. That’s part of the mental block.
“We’ve got centres scoring and defencemen scoring. Do we need more from the wings? Yup. We happen to have some talented guys right now playing down the middle and maybe some others on the wing who aren’t as gifted, but they still have to find ways to contribute.”