Nothing has come easily for the Edmonton Oilers this season.They’ve yet to win more than two games in a row, and one could argue they struggled to play even two consecutive solid games in a row, until their last two against Seattle and Minnesota. I understand a team would rather win and play poorly than lose and play well. Winning matters most in professional sports, and the Oilers were visibly upset after their 1-0 loss last night, but there are signs that better results are coming.Edmonton’s defensive game was a mess through the first 25 games. They gave up way too many quality looks, whether it was off the rush, on deflections, off slot line plays, screens, etc. They were very leaky defensively. But after a few days of practice, the Oilers have played two solid defensive games. Stuart Skinner has faced 50 shots and stopped 49 of them. The Oilers have limited high-danger chances, and the goalie has played well. That is much-needed progress from both the defensive zone coverage and the goalie position. Unfortunately for the Oilers, they didn’t generate enough quality scoring chances last night, despite possessing the puck way more.“We had a lot of possession time, lots of shots, but not enough quality looks,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch.
His captain, Connor McDavid, agreed.“I thought we played well. Usually, when you give up one (goal), you win. We didn’t. We didn’t generate the most Grade A chances, but we had some looks, passed some of them away, myself more than anybody,” said McDavid.
McDavid is an incredible playmaker, but his reluctance to shoot from good scoring areas was an issue last night. He was........
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