Edmonton Oilers forward Josh Archibald is not going to play Game 4 versus the Winnipeg Jets Monday night; not after going low on a hit where he was called for clipping and served a two-minute penalty which ultimately started the Oilers collapse in the third period and equated to a loss to the Jets in Game 3.
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It was a costly mistake that has earned the forward a minor suspension as the Department of Player Safety announced that he will have a disciplinary hearing on Monday and a one-game suspension came down as a result.
With 8:49 left in Sunday’s game, Archibald was called for tripping on a low hit on Winnipeg’s Logan Stanley. The Jets scored on the resulting power play, then twice more to eliminate a 4-1 deficit. The returning Nikolaj Ehlers scored the winner in overtime, his second goal of the game. The Oilers now face elimination from the 2020-21 NHL playoffs.
Fans in Edmonton are being fairly critical of Archibald today. Most are arguing that the inopportune penalty sealed the Oilers fate and gave the Jets all kinds of life when the Oilers had them down and nearly out in Game 3. That Archibald is one of the Oilers key penalty killers but was not out on the ice to kill a penalty didn’t help.
The reality is, the Oilers have proven they are a good team, but not a championship-caliber one.
Oilers Don’t Have the Championship Pedigree
This series isn’t over. It’s improbable the Oilers come back from down three games to win this series, but it’s not impossible. That said, they’re going to need to find a way to ratchet things up another level. For the most part, the Oilers have out-chanced and out-shot the Jets. There’s just been no finish and while the Jets have bent, they’ve not broken. The Oilers are breaking everywhere.
As Jonathan Willis wrote in The Athletic:
This is a team with two all-world superstars, a defenceman in Nurse emerging as a Norris Trophy candidate, and 39-year-old goalie Mike Smith having a renaissance season.
There are a few other nice or emerging players, but the Oilers are largely a bunch of players finding their roles. And several of them won’t have those roles by the time this team actualizes into one of the league’s elite.
Josh Archibald can’t be blamed for that.
Part of the issue is Ken Holland and his refusal to go all-in at this year’s NHL trade deadline. He added Dmitry Kulikov, but it was clear the Oilers needed depth at forward. He didn’t add it, instead suggesting you can’t be “all in every year.” This either suggests he knew this team wasn’t good enough or he overcompensated for how good it actually was.
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RealCreeWarrior
May 24, 2021 at 10:44 am
No Josh A is not at fault for the teams woes…bad penalty at an importune time…most definitely! The team needs to play better, the coach needs to be smarter and most of AL kenH needs to manage better…the fans and media included have been asking for FORWARD help for how many years but nope….I get it you want to rebuild when you have more money to throw at players however, KenH had a chance to make a splash and did nothing….this is his team he should bear the brunt! you have two of the best players in the world on your team and you do the least to help them, this is on Ken\H as much as it is on the players onthe ice! you reap what you sew…..hopefully next season KenH does a much better job with money in the bank and then he will totally be out of excuses for his ineptitude! just sayin!!! Told you so!!