SUNRISE, Fla. — His team played better and competed harder, and that’s what really must burn Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch.
But the Oilers lost again on Thursday, 4-3 at Florida, for their fifth straight loss, and not because they didn’t get goaltending or didn’t play well enough to win.
It’s because not enough guys showed up.
That’s right, folks. A four-game losing streak coming into the game, and four guys decided to go for a Sunday skate.
“We had some pretty good performances by some guys. But to get out of funk like this, when things aren’t going well and guys are really squeezing their sticks, we need everybody,” began Knoblauch, who would not name names — but didn’t have to.
“I felt they there was few passengers. There’s some guys that just didn’t put in the effort that we needed.”
Wait…. What?
“A few passengers?”
“Some guys that just didn’t put in the effort that we needed.”
Knoblauch is a mild-mannered coach. For him, those quotes are the equivalent of John Brophy or Mount Orval Tessier listing off their worst players one by one, with a different four-letter descriptor for each of them.
So, who is he talking about?
Well, Knoblauch’s third line went minus-3. That’s veterans Mattias Janmark (minus-3), Connor Brown (minus-3) and Adam Henrique (minus-2).
They had zero points and one shot on goal between them, three established NHL players who each suffered through that devastating Game 7 loss in this building a season ago.
It was time to bring it on Thursday, with their team on a season-high losing skein, playing the Panthers at the scene of the Stanley Cup Final crime. Instead, those three cats — and one defenceman we’ll get to in a minute — stayed on the bus.
While Leon Draisaitl plays his rear end off, absolutely carrying this team offensively, and Connor McDavid stands in front of the cameras and demands more of himself, three role players on this team were “passengers” in this one.
Then there was Evan Bouchard.
For the second straight game his passive play at the blue-line allowed the opponents time to put a push together, and eventually score a key goal. He allowed the zone entry, then stood around watching Nate Schmidt rip one off the post and in.
“I just think about the third period, just not closing and giving them space,” Knoblauch said. “They scored a key goal, having a little bit of space when there shouldn’t have been any. They were able to gain the zone and to make a play, when that should be eliminated.”
Have a look at the Schmidt goal that made the score 3-2 Florida. Focus in on Oilers No. 2 as he backs off of Anton Lundell at the blue-line, despite back pressure from John Klingberg.
Now, let’s go back to the 4-1 loss in Tampa, where we all blamed goalie Stuart Skinner on that wrap-around goal that turned out to be the game-winner.
Watch Bouchard make an identical play, playing soft at the entry. Mattias Ekholm has his man, and instead of aggressively forcing Hagel — as the coaches instruct defencemen to do — Bouchard sits back and lets Hagel gain the puck, pick up speed, and circle the net for a goal.
Bouchard’s work after that passive mistake is equally poor, but if he takes charge at the entry there is no play for Hagel to make.
With his play negatively affecting two key goals in back-to-back games, you can bet Bouchard’s season is beginning to wear on the people around him.
“The way it’s going right now, we’ve got to make our breaks,” Knoblauch said. “A lot of the guys played well, played hard, did everything they could.
“But a couple? Not so much.”
It must be said, Ekholm had one of his poorest games of the season, taking two penalties and allowing Carter Verhaeghe to score the winner on what was really half a chance. But Ekholm’s mistakes weren’t passive, perimeter play. If anything he’s over-aggressive.
Ekholm has struggled since the 4 Nations Face-Off, and he’s playing next to a partner in Bouchard who looks like he is devoid of confidence.
It all equals a team that played pretty well and lost Thursday, only because it had about 80 per-cent participation.
“We put a lot of internal pressure in here, in ourselves,” said Brett Kulak, standing inside the Oilers’ post-game dressing room after blocking eight shots and scoring a goal. “We enjoy that feeling of winning, and we’ve gotten used to it, that’s for sure. So, this sucks when you when you lose (five) games now in a row.”
Kulak talked about how there was lots to build off in this game, and we’d agree.
Stuart Skinner was excellent, though he still allowed four goals somehow, and the effort looked like the kind that comes near the end of a losing jag.
But it’s worrisome when three of your free-agent signings and key veterans no-show in a game like this, and your prized young defenceman continues down a troublesome, carefree road that never seems to end with Bouchard this season. His play is deteriorating as the games grow in importance, not the other way around.
This is testimony to the fact that even two great players like McDavid and Draisaitl need a full roster of help to build a winner.
Right now, the foundation in Oil Country is somewhere south of sound.
