Two of the NHL’s top teams — and four of its brightest stars — faced off Saturday night as the Colorado Avalanche met the Edmonton Oilers. But only one side looked like a Stanley Cup contender. The hope was that facing one of the league's best would bring out Edmonton's A-game. It didn't. In fact, the Oilers met the challenge that is Colorado by crumbling, left only to look in the mirror and ask who and what they really are.
If this was a test, the Oilers failed it miserably. If this was a challenge, the players didn't meet it. If this was a benchmark, this team isn't close.
After a 9-1 shellacking, head coach Kris Knoblauch said he hoped this was rock bottom.
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In a strategic plan to counter speed and skill with speed and skill, Edmonton's top line was stacked. Connor McDavid skated alongside Leon Draisaitl and Jack Roslovic to combat Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Nečas, and Artturi Lehkonen. "I thought we were ready to play," said Knoblauch. It didn't take long to realize they weren't.
“I hope this wakes up a lot of guys and we understand we’ve got a lot of growing to do to become a good hockey team.”
When Cale Makar struck first on a wrist shot at the 13:29 mark, the Oilers might have suffered a setback, but they weren't throwing in the towel. When Makar scored his second, it felt like the team simply gave up.
"There was a lot of deflation, especially after the second one after the faceoff. After that, it was a lot of guys beating themselves up and not playing very well," said Knoblauch.
Unbelievably, it could have been worse.
After a Gabriel Landeskog goal was called back because of an offside, what could have been a lifeline turned out to be anything but. Before long, it was 3-0, then 4-0. During the television timeout in the second period, Stuart Skinner got the hook, and Calvin Pickard was in. Skinner wasn't great, but this felt a bit like a mercy pull. Who would have guessed it would be Pickard who needed the saving when all was said and done?
He didn't fare much better as Parker Kelly scored to make it 5-0 about two minutes after Pickard took the net.
The Oilers drew a call when Mattias Ekholm was cross-checked, and McDavid wasted no time and slid one under Scott Wedgewood's pads. That was as close as it ever got.
Edmonton immediately gave up a shorthanded breakaway, and Parker Kelly scored his second of the game. The second period ended 6-1, with the Avs leading on the shot clock by a 21-16 margin. Yes, that's a .714 save percentage between the two netminders.
If the question heading into the third period was how much worse could it get, the Avs answered that one early. MacKinnon scored on a 2-on-1 break with Necas. He scored again as he came out of the penalty box, going high on Pickard with a quick release to make it 8-1. A clearly frustrated Walman took a two-minute penalty for hooking, then another for unsportsmanlike.
Adam Henrique got a short-handed breakaway but couldn't score. Jack Drury then scored his second of the night to make it 9-1.
Who And What Are The Oilers... Other Than Pretty Bad Right Now?
Walman spoke after the game, and said, "We deserved this tonight. Not really trending in the right direction for a while, they kicked our ass tonight." He added, "It's just frustrating. To a guy, we owe it to everybody in here to figure out, kinda what our role is, what everybody's role on the team is, and do it, cause we're not right now." Walman was confident they would get out of it, but it's going to take some tough talk from some of the guys in the room. "It's not acceptable right now." He added, "I've got to be better, everybody's got to be better. To a man, we've got to figure out what that looks like."
Colorado's Demolition Job Should Finally Wake Up the OilersColorado's dominant 9-1 win exposes Oilers' flaws. MacKinnon, Makar lead a terrifying, deep Avalanche squad.That could take the Oilers stepping out of their comfort zone. Andrew Mangiapane was questioned about his willingness to be an agitating, in-your-face type of player. He said he needs to go out there and be a hard worker and tenacious. "If that comes, that comes," said Mangipane.
Trent Frederic was asked why he's not been more physical. He responded that he's trying to get people to fight him, but no one wants to accept a fight from a guy who only has one goal in 15 games. He wouldn't accept a fight either if the shoe were on the other foot.
Both players seemed to miss the point Knoblauch was making. After the game, the coach suggested they couldn't wait for the game to come to them—the Oilers need to force their game onto others. Saturday night was a clear indication that this team is reacting rather than acting.
They lost 9-1, and that's with the Avalanche going 0-for-7 on their power play.
When asked in the morning what to expect of the game later that night, Knoblauch had said, "It will be exciting for the fans." Little did he know he would be speaking on behalf of Avalanche fans.
What Oilers fans got was a reality check. Edmonton's ability to squeak out points in games they hadn't played well in was a luxury they can no longer afford. This was a total team loss, and addressing it has to start now.
That means asking questions and finding answers. It's time to hunker down and work their way out of this. Knoblauch said they want to make it fun, but playing good hockey matters more. They do that first, they can worry about it being fun later.
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