Edmonton Oilers
Analyst Argues Oilers Coach Made Misstep in Loss to Penguins
The Edmonton Oilers ran their top stars with big minutes in a 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Was that a misstep?
Jason Strudwick made an interesting point on the Got Yer’ Back podcast after the Edmonton Oilers suffered a loss by a score of 5-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. In a game where the Oilers got down early in the first period, it was 5-1 by the 5:42 mark of the second frame. Strudwick wondered why head coach Kris Knoblauch would run with his top horses in a game that the Oilers would lose. He called it a misstep, which has been rare for the Oilers bench boss this season.
By the time the game was over, Connor McDavid had played 26:55. Leon Draisaitl had played 27:20. Zach Hyman had played 23:30. Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm played over 26 minutes each. It was a lot to ask for the top stars in a game that was arguably out of reach early.
Strudwick understood he might be on an island when it came to his opinion as the team battled back to make it 5-3. They pressed and outshot the Penguins in the second half of the game. Realistically, they were goalied by Alex Nedelkovic, who made 40 saves on 43 shots. He finished with a .930 save percentage.
The Oilers also got extremely close to scoring more than once, including a puck that sat on the goalline before being cleared by a Penguins player.
With Their Stars, Are the Oilers Ever Guaranteed a Loss?
The question of debate here is if the Oilers are ever really out of a game. Strudwick isn’t wrong when he argues that a 5-1 lead seems insurmountable. To be down by that margin and with only 30 minutes remaining, it wouldn’t have been shocking for Knoblauch to rest his best guys and roll four lines, saying we’re not going to overdo this and risk injury or gassing his top stars. This wouldn’t necessarily have been the Oilers quitting, but asking the depth guys to play their role to save the game.
However, this team has some of the most offensively elite stars in the game on it. With 30 minutes remaining, counting on the best players in the world to get four goals isn’t incredibly unrealistic. They can do it, and they’ve done it before.
What would you have done if you were the coach of the Oilers? Would you have run your horses like the Oilers did? Six forwards have around 13 minutes or less in the game. Would it have been better to even things out and live to fight another day?
Next: Oilers Identify Possible Concern Ahead of Trade Deadline
