Gagner isn’t panicking over scoring slump
Centre has gone 10 games without a goal
Sam Gagner figured it would take some time for him to get his game back up to speed after missing the season’s first 13 with a broken jaw.
Consequently, the Edmonton Oilers centre is not about to start gripping his stick now that he’s gone 10 games without a goal.
“I knew there were going to be some chances that wouldn’t go in this year, and it just so happens it’s all been early when I’m trying to get back from injury,” said Gagner, who had A-1 opportunities to end the skid against both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames only to come away with a pair of assists.
“But I’m getting used to playing again. I’m feeling more and more comfortable every game.”
Power play twist
Head coach Dallas Eakins sent out a five-forward power-play unit consisting of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Nail Yakpuov, David Perron and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins against the Blue Jackets and got a pair of goals in return.
Eakins had planned to try out the unit against the Flames, but the opportunity did not present itself.
“We like the feel of that power play,” Hall said. “It’s not going to work that well every night, but if we can get shots and get chances and make sure we’re not breaking the puck out six or seven times, we’ll be fine.
“With a defenceman, their thought is always to defend the net. As a forward — especially the guys we had out there — you want to go to the other end and take chances. Sometimes, you really have to take a deep breath and skate backward a little bit — something I’m really not used to doing.
“As long as we’re in their end, it will be fine, but we have to make sure we’re not giving up the puck easily.”
Win, lose or draw
The Oilers’ faceoff numbers have dipped to the point where the club is converting at 49.5 per cent — something Eakins wants to rectify.
He even went so far as to include a drill at practice on Wednesday that forced the wingers to play an active role.
“It’s on everyone to get in and help, and we need to know what we’re doing off the draw,” Gagner said.
Boyd Gordon is still the strongest producer, winning 57.6 per cent of the 476 draws he’s taken.
Praise for Joensuu
Jesse Joensuu turned some heads early in the season with his game, but then left the lineup with a back injury and missed the next 11 games.
Since returning, he has not been the same effective player, at least not in his first five games back. Eakins said he did see improvement against the Blue Jackets.
“I thought last night he played the best game we’ve seen. He was handling the puck, finishing his checks, the pucks were out of our zone on the wall,” said Eakins.
“(That fourth line) played a role. When we got going there, that line was going so well I wasn’t so concerned about who they were out on the ice against.
“I just really thought he found himself last night.”