EDMONTON — What does it mean for an Edmonton Oilers team that has finally discovered a defensive game to lose a provider like Leon Draisaitl?
Well, when you think about it, it might not be the worst thing — if it’s not too long an absence…
“Our game is going to take a dip on the offensive side of it, especially on the power play,” admitted head coach Knoblauch, moments after stating that — though Draisaitl’s examination had not been completed as he spoke — Knoblauch expected to be without the big German for some or all of the remaining three games of this homestand.
At best.
“Five-on-five, you don’t have one of the best players on the ice playing 20-24 minutes a night. It’s really important that our team simplifies our game,” Knoblauch said. “We’re not going to be able to score as many goals; we can’t outscore our troubles. So it’s going to be important that we play good defensive hockey.”
Edmonton has already been playing an improved brand of defensive hockey, coupled with the emergence of undisputed No. 1 Connor Ingram in goal. Those two have combined to allow just nine goals in Ingram’s last five starts, and a 4-0-1 record.
Now, they’ll have to hunker down some more — which we’ve all learned over the years is the Holy Grail here in Edmonton.
When you have Edmonton’s firepower, the trick is to split up a lesser amount of scoring chances with your opponent and count on your elite scorers to cash in on one more chance than the other guys. Playing without Draisaitl can only put a finer point on that approach.
“For sure,” Connor McDavid said of Tuesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks, “we want to play a solid low-event game.”
The irony of the talented Sharks coming to town is that the Sharks are exactly what Edmonton fancied itself to be five or six years ago: a high-flying group of young, skilled players who want to run ‘n gun through the league, scoring in bunches.
Edmonton was once that team, and the opponents that gave them the most trouble by far were the ones that did not engage them in track-meet-like games.
“Every time you’d go into St. Louis, you were losing 3-1 or 2-1 and just getting beat up the whole night,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins recalled earlier this season. “L.A. was the same thing. Anaheim. When I first came in Vancouver was tough, with the Sedins. Chicago would outskate you every night…
“It’s extremely nice to be on the other side of it now.”
The other side is that the Oilers have learned how to control the pace of a game. Or, at least, they should have learned by now.
In a Tuesday game that Draisaitl will watch from the press box, defensive specialist Jason Dickinson will pick up many of his minutes.
Don’t look for Dickinson to open his game up as a result.
“I don’t think that’s how I approach things,” he said. “I stick to my core — I stick to what I am good at — because if I deviate, then other things suffer. The defensive side of my game suffers, and that’s not good for anybody.”
“But with that said, I am still going to try to elevate my offensive game more, to supplement what’s missing,” he added. “But I’m not going to take chances just because I’m in a higher role and Leon is missing.
“I’m not going to start making crazy spin-o-rama plays, because that’s what Leon would do. I’m not going to be that guy.”
Draisaitl was injured on a hard but clean hit by Nashville’s Ozzy Weisblatt in Sunday’s 3-1 Oilers win. It’s being called a “lower body” injury, though our guess is a knee.
The Oilers training staff allowed him to attempt an in-game comeback Sunday, which should rule out anything catastrophic. And the Oilers spent much of the evening settling the score with Weisblatt, who was forced to have his head on a swivel for the final 40 minutes.
“It’s not the dirtiest check in the world, but it’s just who you hit and the result of it, unfortunately. If you want to hit our top guys, there’s going to be a response,” explained McDavid, who has heard the noise emanating from Toronto after the Radko Gudas knee on Auston Matthews.
“Yeah, there’s been lots of talk about it with Toronto,” McDavid said. “But every group’s different, and we didn’t love the fact that (Weisblatt) finished the hit so hard on Leo. And Leo didn’t feel very good after. So you’ve got to handle that.”
Handling Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks will be an entirely different issue, a team that reminds Dickinson a bit of the Blackhawks team he spent the past four seasons with.
“Macklin, Will Smith, those guys, they’re very high-skilled,” Dickinson said. “So the less you give them, the more frustrated they’re going to get, the more opportunities we’re going to get, the more they’re going to turn pucks over and feed our transition.
“And that’s where the game is going to be in our hands.”
