EDMONTON — It was Kris Knoblauch’s maiden voyage behind Edmonton’s bench, a new boss who was not supposed to be the same as the old boss.
But with one morning skate under his belt, what was he supposed to change? How big of an impact was the son of towering Sr. A legend Bob Knoblauch, who starred for the Imperial (Saskatchewan) Sabres of the Long Lake Hockey League, supposed to make.
“I mean,” began Zach Hyman, “we just met him today. It’s his first day on the job.”
“He’s got a calming presence, and I just look forward to getting to know him and getting to know his style of coaching,” added Hyman, who scored the game-winner on a third period power play, as the Oilers gave Knoblauch a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders in his debut.
After the game, in a very nice gesture, the Oilers surprised the 45-year-old father of two in the post-game dressing room.
“After the game they did something really special,” Knoblauch said. “They had a video on the TV, they presented the puck to me and they had my wife on the TV, just saying a few words. That was very nice of them to do.”
That morning, on just a few hours sleep with the adrenalin of his first NHL head coaching job still coursing through his veins, Knoblauch choked up at the podium when asked to talk about the people, the coaches, the mentors who had helped him along the way.
The clip went viral on Twitter, a rare look into the heart of a hockey man whose family is far away in Hartford, Connecticut, while he chases the hockey dream of a lifetime in the city where he played five seasons for the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
It was an emotional night for all, as the Oilers mustered a win one day after head coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant Dave Manson had been fired.
“This day was a tough day for everyone,” said the eloquent Hyman. “Any time two great people and great coaches get let go, the group feels like you let them down. And it’s not a fun feeling.
“At the same time, you have somebody who’s coming in for their first opportunity. It’s their dream to coach in the NHL. So there’s two sides to the script today.”
Edmonton flipped that script in the third period, with two power-play goals and an empty-netter. Mathew Barzal had opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the game, but the Oilers didn’t caught up chasing.
Instead they chipped away, got a wrist shot from Leon Draisaitl (1-3-4) that was a long-time coming for the struggling 50-goal man, and two powerplay goals in third — one by the equally scuffling Connor McDavid.
“It’s been a crazy couple days, a crazy 48 hours. It’s unfortunately something we have gone through before,” McDavid said, on a two-point, five-shot night. “It was nice to see one go in. Offensive guys like to score goals, and I am no different.”
Two nights after a shot-less third period in a 4-1 win at Seattle, the Oilers put together their first back-to-back wins of the season. They got solid goaltending (32 saves by Stuart Skinner), three third-period goals, a two-for-three night on the power play and a perfect penalty kill.
Add in six points combined for Draisaitl and McDavid, and this Oilers team looked a lot like the one Woodcroft had been searching for during his 3-9-1 tenure.
“Stu played great — that’s first and foremost,” Hyman said. “When you have a guy that is backing you up, it gives you a chance. And we won the special teams battle. The PK was solid and the powerplay got back to doing its thing.”
“It was a big night for our group, and a big first win for Kris.”
Knoblauch spoke about his wish to establish some identity in his bottom six, and he put Warren Foegele on the wing with centre Ryan McLeod and Dylan Holloway, who left with an injury after two periods.
The minutes were down for McDavid (20:24) and Draisaitl (18:50), while every Oiler save Holloway played at least 10 minutes. A major knock on Woodcroft was how he almost forgot about his depth forwards at times, so Knoblauch’s approach is welcome by at least half of these forwards.
“That means something different to every player,” said fourth-liner Derek Ryan, another former Golden Bear on this Oilers club. “I would consider myself a role player. I’m not a star player. So that speaks to me.
“I felt like I had a role with Jay as well, so it’s not a knock on that situation. But when you have a coach coming in, as a role player like myself, who says something like that it makes you excited.”
The Oilers have gone 11-1-0 against the Islanders on home ice since 2008.
