Can the Edmonton Oilers keep outscoring their weaknesses?
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Steven Ellis discussed the Oilers’ landmark achievement of having four separate 30-goal scorers.
The two discussed whether Edmonton’s high-powered offense will be enough to fire them into the Stanley Cup fight.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The Edmonton Oilers have seven wins in their last 10, and they have rattled off a three-game win streak. The Oilers have become the first team in 30+ years to have four different 30-goal scorers. When you look at the NHL, there have only been 39 30-goal scorers this season; four of them are on the Oilers with Zach Hyman grabbing his 30th. It’s also pretty crazy to think that if Evander Kane could have just stayed healthy they actually could have ended up with five. He has 13 goals in 29 games so far this season.
So much love goes to the high end of this team and understandably so: this team has led the NHL in goals-for-per-game pretty much wire-to-wire this season, and they probably have better high-end skill than anyone in the league. What about everything else? The blueline, the bottom-six, and the goaltending. This team has outscored their problems lately, Steven. Can they keep doing that in mid-April when things get tighter?
Steven Ellis: They’re going to need some good performances on the backend, for sure. Obviously we have watched Mattias Ekholm and seen what he’s been able to do and I’m still a big fan of Evan Bouchard. On paper, this is an Edmonton team that I’m way more confident in than I have been in recent years. I know goaltending has been a big topic but in a single-game scenario I do trust Stuart Skinner. At the same time I know that the goaltending can fall apart at times, especially if Jack Campbell is in net. If any team can outscore their opponents, though, it is the Edmonton Oilers.
We have to give huge credit specifically to Nugent-Hopkins. This is someone who had the potential to be special at the junior level and he never really reached those heights. This year he looks so comfortable and is playing a huge role for this team. You don’t get a lot of guys that are starting to peak nearly a decade after going first overall, but he’s hitting his peak at the right time. The same goes for Zach Hyman, who has gone from Junior A to being an NHL star.
One of the biggest knocks on this team has been that “they have these two superstar players but no one else is scoring.” Now they’re getting offense and getting good performances from every position. This is their time to shine.
Tyler Yaremchuk: It will be interesting to see. I think Mattias Ekholm has really brought that blueline up a level. Stuart Skinner had one difficult stretch near the All-Star break, but other than that he has been consistent. We have said for years that all the Oilers need is a .905+ save percentage and they will be fine. Skinner appears to be giving them that. Right now, Edmonton, LA, and Vegas are all playing very good hockey.
You can watch the entire episode here …