EDMONTON — An old Earth Wind and Fire tune set the groove in the post-game Edmonton Oilers dressing room Tuesday night, 20-some 20-somethings funking out on a tune that was old before they were even born.
That’s just the way it is around here these days, folks.
There are a lot of weird things happening in Edmonton, as an Oilers team that used to overpower opponents with skill and scoring is grinding out wins like some kind of Jacques Lemaire and the New Jersey Devils tribute band.
They used to lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a track meet? On Tuesday they held Toronto to two goals and 28 shots in a 4-2 game won largely by the goalie and the Bottom 6.
“I think it’s just a maturity level that we’re reaching,” said Leon Draisaitl, who scored his 21st. “If you do it a couple of times and you win a couple of games late you build trust in that. You build that level of comfort in knowing there’s no rush to open it up and score in the first minute of the third period to tie it up.”
They’re winning for fun now, these Oilers, setting a new team record every night out. Their heater is at 11 straight games, but it’s how they’re winning these games that is making believers out of people who have always wondered if this group was anything more than some entertaining West Coast offence with little or no ground game.
They’re not winning 7-4 on a five-point night by Connor McDavid or Draisaitl hat trick anymore. They’re travelling the gravel roads, winning on guts, guile and goaltending.
It’s a corner they’ve been trying to turn for years here in Edmonton, to win this way. Edmonton lost in six games to Vegas last spring despite holding a lead in every game — because whatever this is, they did not possess it.
Is this the last bit of puppy that disappears, and — poof! — you finally have the dog?
Is this the game that has eluded Draisaitl’s club over the good-but-someone-else-is-always-better era?
Is this what a Stanley Cup team looks like in January?
“Well, it’s definitely big,” he said of this new ability. “Especially in May and June — those games, they’re all going to be tight. But I would have to say that we’ve shown it before; we’ve done it before. We’ve gone far in the playoffs before, so I don’t think it’s only this year.
“But I feel like there’s a level of composure, maybe hitting the next level here.”
It’s hard to say what is more impressive: 11 straight wins, or the cold-blooded patience and contributions that come from that old hockey chestnut, having a new hero every night. As great as it is when the big boys all score, sometimes it’s even better for a team when the biggest goals come from Derek Ryan and Ryan McLeod the way they did against the Leafs.
Some thoughts:
• Edmonton has trailed in the third period of their past three games and won them all. Low-scoring games, too: 2-1, 3-2, 4-2 with an empty netter.
• It’s been five games now since Edmonton scored five times in the same game. And they’ve won them all, usually coming from behind.
• The powerplay has not scored a regulation goal in four games. You can no longer say this team is powerplay reliant.
• McDavid has notched just a single point in nine of Edmonton’s past 10 games. No. 97 is always going to be their best player, but he isn’t carrying this team.
• And the goaltending — it’s been super. Stuart Skinner gave up a no-chance goal to Auston Matthews just 27 seconds into the game, then allowed just one more in the remaining 59:33. He was better than the other guy again. It’s been happening every night for two months.
“They’ve been the best team in the league for the last two months — by a mile,” said Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. “And not just winning, but winning different ways.”
To his point, it was McDavid who was crashing the net on the game-winning goal, and McLeod who deftly walked out from behind the net and picked a high corner.
Like, what is going on here?
“Yeah, I think we’re building something great,” said McLeod. “I think we’re contributing a lot of ways other than the scoresheet. Shutting down a lot of guys, we’re doing amazing on the penalty kill and (it creates) a lot of energy. The more we do that, the more success we’ll have.”
It doesn’t get much better than this in January.
Now, if this translates to May and June? The Oilers might really have something here.
