Puck to the face sends Sekera to injured reserve
Possible concussion continues rough ride for Oilers defenceman this season
Andrej Sekera’s Winter of Discontent got nastier Wednesday when he was put on injured reserve after taking a puck in the face in last week’s loss in Anaheim.
The Edmonton Oilers defenceman, who has predictably struggled to regain his form and keep up to the racehorse NHL after missing the first 2½ months to recover from major knee surgery, doesn’t have any broken bones. But he might have concussion issues.
“Andrej’s on IR, so he still needs some time with his facial injury,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan.
Sekera, who ripped his ACL during a collision with the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf in May, has played 18 games and is minus-10 with one assist.
The Oilers are playing Yohann Auvitu in his place in the third pairing and have farmhand Keegan Lowe as a No. 7 to go on their road trip to Vegas, Arizona and Colorado because Adam Larsson remains away from the club after the death of his father, Robert.
“Keegan’s earned the right to a recall and at some point we may see him in the lineup,” said McLellan. “There’s been all this talk of the three younger guys (Caleb Jones, Ethan Bear and Ryan Mantha) in Bakersfield pushing to get here but I don’t see any of them here right now.”
PLAYED OUT
It’s pretty much garbage time for the Oilers because they’re 16 points out of the playoffs with a minuscule chance of making the post-season, but they’re still required to get things done.
“We’re professionals and we get paid to perform. We’ve talked to the players about that,” said McLellan. “Everybody talks about the crest on the front (of the jersey) but the name on the back also gets exposed on a nightly basis. You don’t want to be caught cheating or cutting corners or get caught lazy.”
NO RESTRICTIONS
Mike Cammalleri is another Oilers player who could go at the trade deadline because he’s an unrestricted free-agent.
He’s never gone that route before, even though he’s been traded three other times, all to Alberta teams (twice to Calgary: Once in January, once in June; and here last November for Jussi Jokinen).
Cammalleri thought he was getting traded at the deadline in 2014 when he was an unrestricted free agent and playing for the Flames, but a deal to a contending Cup team fell through. That summer of 2014, he signed as a free agent in New Jersey. Cammalleri has 13 points in 32 Oilers games.
INDICTABLE OFFENCE
Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who suffered cracked ribs and a sternum blow after a wallop from Vegas defenceman Brayden McNabb the last time the teams met Jan. 13, still isn’t skating.
He was supposed to be out four to six weeks. The Oilers are 3-6 without him. Nugent-Hopkins is still tied for second in team goals with Leon Draisaitl at 16, behind Connor McDavid’s 23. It’s an indictment on the rest of the forwards that Nugent-Hopkins is still third in team points with 31, too.
PENALTY KILLED
Mark Letestu is past trying to figure out the Oilers penalty kill at home and on the road.
First overall on the road, giving up just 12 goals in 88 tries, wile sitting 31st at home, giving up 38 goals in 84 attempts.
Monday, they gave up three power-play goals in four tries to Florida. It was the fifth time they’ve surrendered three in a game this season, all at Rogers Place. But Letestu thought the penalty-kill work wasn’t as bad as other nights.
“I think it’s a bit short-sighted to land this one on the penalty kill. We gave up three goals but one was really about poor coverage (Vincent Trocheck splitting the defence), one was a bounce (Aaron Ekblad off Oscar Klefbom) and one got through a screen (Trocheck),” said Letestu, blaming the 7-5 loss more on overall shoddy defensive work.
Also the team has to do things a lot quicker in his mind – thinking and skating.
“Our team is fast when we play fast. And I mean by playing fast, snapping it on the tape and being in the right position,” he said. “When we look slow, when people say we’re slow, it’s when our execution is piss-poor, it’s in the feet.”
THAT’S FINE
Vegas second-pairing defenceman Deryk Engelland was fined $2,688.17, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for cross-checking Chicago’s Brandon Saad Tuesday.