When Todd McLellan took over as the head coach in Edmonton, so much of his focus was on strengthening the belief system of the team. There was talent, for sure. Tons of it. There wasn’t, however, the resiliency necessary to maintain success during the grind of a long season.
The analogy he made to his team was that there are times during the course of an NHL season that are a bit like playing a card game. You’re going to get dealt a bad hand. In that moment, you don’t fold. You find a way to survive until the odds return to your favor.
The hockey season is a grind. The other corner of the sporting world that uses that phrase as much as hockey does is poker. The best poker players grind out wins. They minimize losses until the better cards show up. To the absolute best poker players, it doesn’t matter what the cards are, they find ways to win.
On Sunday, the Oilers were dealt a bad hand. This was seven-two off-suit.
They were playing their second game of a back-to-back, coming off a shootout win over the Islanders on Saturday. It was their fourth game in six nights, all on the road.
They were missing the injured Kris Russell, a player who has been their best defenseman at times this season. They were missing Jesse Puljujarvi, their talented winger whose ice time was starting to creep up as he finds his NHL game during his rookie campaign.
They were starting backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson, resting Cam Talbot, whose .925 save percentage this season is a big reason why they’ve had success.
They also gave up the first goal in Detroit.
Previous Oilers teams would have folded so fast in this one that you might not even realized they were in the hand to begin with.
These Oilers won 2-1 to improve to 9-3-1 on the season. It’s as gutsy a win as a team can have at this point in the season. It’s a great indicator that the Oilers have learned to grind a bit, that this team is unlike previous versions.
“We’re just a better team,” said Jordan Eberle when we chatted after the game. “Mentally, we’re a lot stronger. When guys go down, we have a lot more depth that can fill in. We’re just playing a better system, our goaltending has been great, our special teams have been good. Especially of late.”
Connor McDavid explained it this way: “Timely goals,” he said. “That changes the aspect of the game. [And] shutting it down. We had a 2-1 lead in the third, they had a few chances but not too much. I think that’s a recipe for success.”
In the past, the Oilers played the same way no matter the score. That’s fine when you’re down a goal or two. It also meant that no lead was safe. This group is learning how to win, and now has a five-point lead in the Pacific Division. That lead is looking more legitimate every game.
Nine more takeaways from the weekend:
2. It only takes one chance
The win was a great example of how dangerous McDavid can be even when he’s not having his best game. On Sunday, he was a non-factor for most of the game. Detroit coach Jeff Blashill did a nice job getting the matchup he wanted at home, which meant a steady dose of Darren Helm, a player with speed to hang with McDavid. According to naturalstattrick.com, Helm played 10:46 of even-strength ice time against McDavid, and the Red Wings controlled 65 percent of the shot attempts during this matchup. They’ll take that every time.
Then, on a power play, McDavid passes to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and the Oilers take the lead. It ended up being the game-winner.
“[Nugent-Hopkins] did a good job of finding that seam,” McDavid said. “That was just the play I saw. Fortunately it worked out. If that pass gets picked off or knocked down, we’re having a different debate on why we didn’t shoot it.”
3. Special teams leading the way
The power-play goal was the Oilers' fourth on the man advantage in three games during their current road trip, a trip that ends on Tuesday against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. A Jay Woodcroft-led power play usually finds its legs, with the Oilers assistant coach responsible for McLellan’s power plays in both Edmonton and San Jose.
The success has moved the Oilers' power play into the top 10 in the league (21.1 percent). The penalty kill is currently at No. 4 (89.5 percent). Special teams are driving the Oilers' spot at the top of the Pacific.
4. The Rangers' resplendent rookies
Over in the East, it’s quite possible that the best team is the New York Rangers. Despite a schedule that had them playing their fifth game in eight nights, the Rangers beat the Jets on Sunday by a score of 5-2. Another team grinding.
“You’ve got to grind it out,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told reporters in New York after the game.
Somehow this offense continues to find way to get to five goals seemingly every time out, the prettiest by far coming from Pavel Buchnevich. With goals in back-to-back games, he now has four points in his first eight NHL games.
If he gets a little confidence going, he is going to push Jimmy Vesey as the Rangers' best rookie.
Wow, pretty awesome effort by Buchnevich on this goal pic.twitter.com/HbR5D85tvO
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 7, 2016
5. How the Rangers are getting it done
With another five-goal game, the Rangers have now hit the five-goal mark for the fifth consecutive game, the first time the Rangers have done that since 1978. The Rangers have 10 wins in their first 13 games of the season, the third time they’ve done that in franchise history.
The most impressive thing might be their goal differential. It seems like they score five goals every game, and have allowed two or fewer in eight of 10 games.
That gives them a goal differential of plus-26, by far the best in the NHL. The Blackhawks are No. 2, at plus-14.
The Rangers are shooting 12.4 percent at even strength, a number that’s going to drop as the season goes on, but they finished No. 1 in that stat last season, shooting 8.95 percent at even strength.
6. Sacrificing defense for skill?
The Rangers might be Exhibit A in the case study of building four pure skill lines. The additions of Buchnevich, Vesey, Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner gives this forward group incredible depth.
Teams that like defensive players in the bottom six will point to their penalty kill as the beneficiary, but the Rangers are currently at No. 12 on the PK, killing penalties at a rate of 83.3 percent.
7. Headed to Las Vegas?
The management group for the Las Vegas expansion team took in both games in Detroit over the weekend, as they were in town for the under-17 Five Nations tournament being held in nearby Plymouth. General manager George McPhee was at Joe Louis Arena Friday, and assistant GM Kelly McCrimmon was there for both games, against the Jets and Oilers.
Both said they’re watching players closely who could be candidates for the expansion draft. At this point, the Vegas management team has a pretty good idea of who will be available.
Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard turned in a strong performance in front of them on Sunday, stopping 26 of 28 shots, with neither goal scored on him one you could put on his shoulders. Howard now has a .965 save percentage after adjusting the way he plays in the offseason. He’ll most likely be there for the taking when the expansion draft rolls around.
8. That won't get the job done
If Howard had any goal support, he’d have a winning record this season.
The Red Wings have averaged 1.6 goals per game in the five games Howard has played in this season.
9. Latest on the Trouba front
Agent Kurt Overhardt was another interesting visitor to Joe Louis Arena over the weekend. He was there on Friday with the Jets in town. He and Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff had an in-person meeting regarding restricted free agent defenseman Jacob Trouba, who remains unsigned. Trouba has been training in Michigan but wasn’t part of the meeting between Overhardt and Cheveldayoff.
After the meeting, Trouba’s stance hasn’t changed. He’s still looking for opportunity elsewhere.
“Status quo,” Overhardt said.
10. Quote of the weekend
The Jets' swing through Detroit did lead to a great line from Blake Wheeler, referencing his teammate training in the area.
He said guys on the Jets remain in touch with Trouba, and remain supportive. They were half-wondering if they’d spot him in the stands to watch the Jets.
“We were joking that maybe he’d have a disguise on or something,” Wheeler said. “[Maybe he’d] have a fake mustache sitting behind the bench or something.”