EDMONTON - They are a little difficult to see and hear, given their disappointing start this season, but signs of confidence are starting to come from the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers won for the third time in their past four games, defeating the San Jose Sharks 5-3 at Rogers Place on Monday.
It was the first game this season between the Pacific Division foes after Edmonton won their Western Conference First Round series last season.
With 32 points (15-17-2), Edmonton closed the gap in the race for playoff spots in the Pacific Division and Western Conference. The Oilers trail the Sharks (17-11-4) by six points for third place in the Pacific Division, but remain seventh in the division.
Edmonton is also six points behind the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, held by the Dallas Stars (18-14-2), with six teams to pass.
But winning against the Western Conference's best defensive team (the Sharks have allowed 79 goals this season), was a good place to start.
Edmonton, 3-11-0 after victories this season, has a chance to win three consecutive games for the first time when they host the St. Louis Blues at Rogers Place on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-MW, NHL.TV).
"You earn confidence," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "You earn it by doing things right over and over again. You begin to feel good about yourself individually and collectively. It's been a challenge, because sometimes we do that and don't win.
"We've seen a couple of games like that, Toronto [Maple Leafs] (a 6-4 loss on Nov. 30), Nashville [Predators] (a 4-0 loss on Dec. 14) those types of games, so you get tested with it. But I think we're doing more good than bad and you begin to feel good about yourselves again."
In winning their past two games, the Oilers have been helped by the return of goalie Cam Talbot from a lower-body injury that kept him out seven games.
Sturdy defenseman Adam Larsson returned from an upper-body injury on Monday after missing eight games.
"We're playing with a lot more speed, connecting better in the breakouts, and that sets up everything for us," Larsson said Monday. "Earlier this season we had trouble breaking out and it slowed everything down. I feel like everybody's on the same page right now. We look fast, too. So it's just different aspects of the game right now where we're a lot better."
The Oilers have struggled in many areas.
One of their biggest challenges this season continues to be penalty killing. They fell behind 1-0 on Monday when Sharks center Joe Pavelski scored on the power play at 6:15 of the first period. Edmonton is 31st in the NHL in penalty-killing (73.0 percent).
Confidence, more coordinated speed and focus helped the Oilers get the lead before the end of the first period, and they held off the Sharks the rest of the way.
Edmonton's focus, Larsson said, will only be forward.
"We will believe this 'til it's over," he said. "It's a lot of games; more than half the season left. I've seen teams crawl back in February and March. This is a start and we'll have to build on that."
Center Leon Draisaitl, who had two assists Monday, said speed has been an improving factor for the Oilers.
"I think we've gotten back to playing fast, playing the way we're capable of playing and the way we played for most of last year," Draisaitl said. "I think that confidence is coming back and for us now, obviously it's just a matter of keeping that going, being consistent with it."
There was enough confidence and relax-and-just-play attitude in the Oilers on Monday that forward Patrick Maroon, who scored his ninth goal of the season, engaged in some amusing hijinks with Sharks defenseman Brent Burns.
The players were battling near the San Jose net before a whistle at 16:23 of the second period. They had fallen to the ice when the play stopped, when Maroon reached up and yanked Burns' beard three times.
"We were just in the scrum there and I just pulled his beard," Maroon said. "I do some crazy stuff sometimes. He was laughing about it. I was laughing about it. I thought he would be mad at first, but he said, 'Do you like it?' I said, 'Yeah, it's a pretty nice beard.'
"It was just in my face and I decided to pull his beard. A little greasy, it looks like, but one of those things. I was doing it to just try to get underneath his skin but it turned out to be funny."
The Oilers had the last laugh on Monday, but there's plenty of work to do before it will amount to something meaningful.
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://almosthuman99.com
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/babes/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/hunks/hunkofthemonth.html
No comments:
Post a Comment