Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Oilers Look: Games 33-37

The Oilers followed up a solid 5 game road trip with a disasterous home stretch. They lost all the traction they gained by losing 5 games in a row (4 in a row at home).

Games 28-32:


  • Team Record: 5-0-0

  • Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 170 - 162 (+8)

  • Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 115 - 117 (-2)

  • Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 16 - 10 (+6)

  • Team Shooting %: 9.41

  • Team Save %: 93.8



Games 33-37:


  • Team Record: 0-5-0

  • Shots For - Shots Against (Diff): 139 - 148 (-9)

  • Scoring Chances For - Against (Diff): 97 - 93 (+4)

  • Goals For - Goals Against (Diff): 10 - 23 (-13)

  • Team Shooting %: 7.19

  • Team Save %: 84.5



As good as JDD was on the 5 game winning streak, he was simply awful (as was Dubnyk) in this stretch. An .845 sv% is what you'd expect if you called up a tier 2 junior goaltender for a 5 game stretch. The shooting % fell through the floor as well, registering the lowest total of any of the game samples I've analyzed this year.

It was a shame too, because aside from the Washington game (where they were brutally out-chanced 30-19), the Oilers held their own as a team quite well. Take out that game and they out chance their opposition 78-63 (+15). With those kinds of numbers on a regular basis, you'd expect a team to win a lot more hockey games.

There is not much going right for this team. As bad as I thought this team would be, I didn't think 15th in the conference was possible. The team on the whole seems to have gotten to the point where they have gotten competitve on the ice in terms of generating chances, but their percentages are just killing them. They are playing like a 10th place team but getting sunk by some awful goaltending and some terrible puck luck on offence.

At this point in time, there's nothing much to do other than hope it continues and the Oilers get a top 2 pick. There's very little hope for much else at this point.

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