PHILADELPHIA — Cup or bust?
Pfffft!
The Edmonton Oilers, absolutely outworked once again by a team with far more passion for the game last night in Philadelphia, will have to raise their level to get to “bust.”
The Oilers were whipped 4-1 by a largely no-name Flyers team that may not come within 10 points of a playoff spot this season, but is off to a 3-1 start because the Flyers know they have to earn everything they’ll get.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella is squeezing every possible drop out of the lime here in Philly, while his counterpart Jay Woodcroft has an early season lemon — and hasn’t got an ounce of juice as of yet.
“We simply just got outworked. They wanted it more than us, and can’t win a game if you don’t want it,” said Edmonton winger Warren Foegele, perhaps Edmonton’s best forward through four games. “We’re just not clean. We’re not quick. When we are quick, we’re a dangerous team. And right now we’re not.
“We need everyone on the rope. Tonight we weren’t.”
Edmonton, where Woodcroft often uses the term “earned not given,” rolled out another fat and sassy effort Thursday, falling to 1-3 on a night where they put their feet up after winning one in a row at Nashville two nights before.
They’ve never had expectations like this, with everyone and their dog picking the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup.
Is the burden of expectation too heavy for them?
“You (media) guys like to talk about the Cup. I prefer to talk about October — that’s important to us right now,” said fourth-liner Derek Ryan. “If we start looking ahead to June like you guys like to talk about, then that’s not going to bode very well for us.”
In two of four games this season, the Oilers have quite simply mailed in the effort. Exploited in a season-opening 8-1 loss at Vancouver, the Flyers further exposed Edmonton’s perimeter game again on Thursday, dropping the Oilers to 1-3 on the season.
“I just think we don’t have enough urgency yet. I’d like to see us push back,” Ryan said. “When we get pushed up against it, it seems like we’re just a little deflated, sitting back. We’re just not putting it together for a full period, or for a full game yet. Yep, disheartening.”
The Oilers have as much or more skill than any club in the league. So far, it looks like they’re saving their sweat for the games in April and May, and trying to get through October on pure skill — without messing up their hair.
“I think we’re past that,” said Woodcroft, when asked if his team is sitting back and relying on skill. “Sometimes, younger teams at different life stages might feel that way. Where we’re at in our life stage, we should know better. We’ve been in a lot of playoff wars. We’ve gone through some adversity here over time, and we know we have a recipe or a standard that we need to play towards.
“And we’re falling short.”
In the City of Brotherly Love, the Oilers were charitable indeed, handing pucks away, left right and centre. They played, alas, without conviction or Constitution.
Evan Bouchard’s game was a tire fire — for the second time in four games this season. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, after a fabulous night in Nashville, was minus-three with one shot on goal.
Evander Kane is still waiting for the alarm clock to go off this season. Connor Brown has yet to materialize, as he fights his way back from a long season lost to injury. Connor McDavid gave a key shorthanded goal away, and went without a shot — something that happened just once last season.
And goalie Jack Campbell, who earned the start off a marvellous, 42-save night in Nashville, returned to making most of the saves he should make — yet none of the saves he shouldn’t. For the third night out of four, the Oilers had the second best goalie on the ice.
“It’s just unacceptable,” said Foegele, after praising Campbell’s effort. “It’s the NHL — you’re not going to win games just off talent. It’s work first, and then use your talent. Tonight we simply didn’t work, and we don’t even really use our talent. We didn’t really execute.”
Have they been busy reading all the predictions and press clippings? Foegele says his team expects the same results as us media folks — games in June — but they’re not matching those dreams with the commensurate amount of passion and pride.
“Yeah, we have high expectations as a group. I just don’t have a great answer for you right now,” said the honest winger. “Tonight was unacceptable and we need to be better.”
Make no mistake. This lazy bug has inflicted the team from the bottom of the lineup all the way to the very top.
“I didn’t see second and third efforts in all areas of the game, from up and down our lineup,” Woodcroft said. “That’s going to have to get fixed. Quickly.”
Edmonton flew home after the game and will await a Winnipeg Jets team on Saturday that’s always been a stone in their shoe. For one day, at least, they’ll try to conjure up a work ethic that is as stout as their hockey cards say their skill level is.
After that, we’ll worry about another day.
“That’s kind of been our mantra here, that we want to take care of our day. Well, we haven’t taken care of our days,” Woodcroft said. “If you take care of your enough days, you’re ready for one when the bullets fly in April, May and June.
“We can’t afford to let games get washed away here.”
