Oilers Get Another Win, But a Concerning Trend Emerging

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The Edmonton Oilers picked up another two points in their game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Oilers fans have seen this story before.

Having played games against the New York Rangers and Flyers this week, Edmonton got wins in games they were badly outplayed.“You never complain about wins,” said Zach Hyman on Wednesday night after scoring two goals. That is true. Grinding out undeserved wins is a key part of being successful. “That’s what good teams do,” said head coach Mike Babcock. That said, if the Oilers don’t find another gear before Saturday, history might repeat itself.

The last time Edmonton played the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton had just come off wins over the Carolina Hurricanes and Minnesota Wild. They beat the Hurricanes in a shootout and the Wild 4-3 in overtime. The Oilers were the second-best team in both those games and got handily spanked by Toronto in the following game, 7-2.

It was a wake-up call — play bad hockey, and you won’t always get away with it.

Now, after two wins where Edmonton scraped by lesser teams, they’ll be facing Toronto again. This time, it’s the first of a six-game road trip. The Oilers will want to get off to a good start because a bad run will quickly dip into their 14-3-3 record.

Oilers Relying Too Heavily on Goaltending

The Oilers sit atop the NHL standings after 20 games for the first time since January 10, 1990. They’ve matched their best start since 1984-85. That’s a reason to be grateful, but not a reason to open the door to bad habits. Babcock noted that the Oilers are relying far too heavily on their goaltending to steal games. “The last two nights, our goaltending has been better than I’d like it to be. I don’t to say it like that…”Babcock said, “Way better than we wanted to have to be. … Is that a better way to say it?”

There is only so long Edmonton can get away with Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi stealing them wins. Those two netminders need some support, and while they’re getting it, it’s by barely enough to scrape by.

Are the Oilers about to get another wake-up call against the Maple Leafs? Or, will they have figured out in the next two days how to put together a better effort and support their netminders? It’s great their goaltenders are playing so well. That won’t last forever.

Next: Babcock Talks Getting Andersen Into Oilers Lineup: Is There Room for 3 Goalies?