With Oilers almost destined to start the playoffs on the road, they must start moving the focus
With their place in the ranking, almost unprotected, it is time for Edmonton Oilers to focus exclusively on the playoffs to try to correct what can only be described as a disappointing season to date.
The Oilers dropped a 3-0 decision against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, a critical loss in a probable battle between the two teams for the advantage of the house ice in their apparently annual matchup of the first round.
The Oilers are now four points behind the kings for the second in the Pacific division with six remaining games for each team. Really, that deficit is five points because the Oilers do not have the tiebreaker thanks to the winning measures of 32 regulations, according to the second major among the playoffs teams of the western conference.
Even if the Oilers beat the kings at home in the penultimate game of the regular season, everything he will do is bring them back to the level conditions before the puck takes on Saturday. And this is if there is enough time for that game also to import.
Win the series taken 🙁 We will take the journey on Monday to Anaheim.@Sentinelstorage | #Letsgooilers pic.twitter.com/l1qafda1r7
– Edmonton Oilers (@edmontonoolers) April 5, 2025
It is almost not an agreement that the Oilers will start the post -station on the road for the first time since Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have joined the team. It depends only on the fact that they face the king or gold knights of Las Vegas for the first place.
It is not a position that nobody would have expected that they were entering the countryside, not to mention a little over two months ago.
The samples of the Western Conference in charge were the favorites of the Presidential Trophy after the CEO of hockey operations and the acting of GM Jeff Jackson made a go -a shopping madness on July 1 and maintained this status during the training field. I save for a start 0-3, they played as contenders for the first 50 games while they boasted a percentage of .670 points-terzo behind Washington and Winnipeg.
The last 26 games, including Saturday’s defeat in Southern California, were mostly poor. The Oilers won only 12 times from January 30th, leaving them in sixth place at the conference with St. Louis Blues hot on their path.
The accidents played a considerable role in the fall of the Oilers.
They competed in their seventh consecutive game without McDavid, who has to do with an injury to the lower body. Leon Draisaitl sat for the fifth time from March 20 and the first time since he left the ice in half of Thursday’s competition in San Jose. Neither should adapt to Monday in Anaheim. The Oilers went down to 1-3 without both players in training.
On Saturday he also represented their fifth consecutive game without Mattias Ekholm, probably their best defender. Whether there is a direct or purely random connection, Ekholm’s health problems align almost perfectly with the decline of the Oilers.
Ekholm was sick before the 4 nations face in February and even a game sat before the tournament. He played illness during the international event. He then suffered an injury to the lower body with the Oilers and tried to sell it before jumping six games in March. He managed to play four competitions before he needs more recovery time.
Ekholm up to 12 missed games and counting.
The starting goalkeeper Stuart Skinner has not been available for the last five games due to a head injury, while the depth blueer John Klingberg has been mostly out of service for a month. None of this helped the cause of the Oilers.
The crisis at the bottom of the ranking means that the Oilers should start from home and probably may not be considered favored in the opening road, it doesn’t matter the rest of the playoffs.
This should not import much for this group, even if it is worrying to face the kings with the best house record in the championship (29-4-4) or having to go to Las Vegas.
The Oilers are the oldest team of the NHL and among the most experienced. Only the Florida Panthers have appeared in several series of Edmonton nine in the last three years. The nucleus of this team saw everything and had to resist each scenario in the spring since they passed to the contenders.
As Ekholm said AtleticoGetting healthy is the maximum priority for the Oilers. They have two weeks to go before the start of the playoffs, then the Ticklet time. But Saturday’s result means that there is no reason to hurry players for a normal season matchup until they are ready or feel they absolutely need a development before the start of real action.
This also applies to Trent Frederic. Frederic made his debut with Oilers against the kings and showed a lot of moxie. He had two shots and two shots.
However, coach Kris Knoblauch told Los Angeles journalists that Frederic had to be re -evaluated after his first round. The wing played only 7:10 and only two shifts in the third period. He has not seen the ice for the last 15 minutes of play and has not always seemed to be at ease in his first action since February 25 after having undergone a high -level distortion with Boston.
Knoblauch was vague for Frederic’s status for Monday in Anaheim, but said caution if necessary.
It would be useful to bring Frederic in multiple games and understand where it is better for training. There is a lot of value in this. Make sure it is physically best in front of the playoffs is very important.
Putting the emphasis on rest and recovery instead of pushing for better positioning is where the Oilers are located. It is not ideal, but at least the oilers can draw their best.
This could prepare them for their best possibilities of success post -station, the only way to possibly correct everything that has happened in recent weeks to leave them in this precarious state.
(Photo: Robert Hanashiro / Image images)
