Lightning indeed doesn’t strike twice, as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Tuesday night (Dec. 10), to conclude their three-game homestand. The Oilers went a perfect 3-0 on this homestand and did so in different ways. Against the Blue Jackets they relied heavily on their offence, against the Blues they got depth contributions, and against the Lightning they bought in defensively. With that said, here are three takeaways from this low-scoring affair from Rogers Place.
Draisaitl Hits 20 Goals
Leon Draisaitl hit the 20-goal mark 11:58 into the second period. He received a breakaway pass which Andrei Vasilevskiy denied, but the Lightning goaltender played the puck off his defenceman, and it deflected into the net for a lucky bounce. The Oilers superstar is the first player to reach 20 goals this season, and in his 11th NHL season, he’s reached this feat nine times.
Draisaitl has been outstanding. The whole team struggled early in the season, but ever since Connor McDavid missed three games due to injury in late October, Draisaitl really stepped up and hasn’t looked back. Even more impressive is that 16 of his 20 goals have come at even strength, and he’s not on a line with McDavid. He’s producing at this rate while playing with Vasily Podkolzin, Kasperi Kapanen, and Viktor Arvidsson (when he’s healthy). He’s proven that he can drive his own line, and doesn’t need the help of the Oilers’ captain. The German forward is definitely in the running to win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy this season. He finished the game with a goal and an assist, while being named the first star.
Stuart Skinner Shines
The Stuart Skinner critics have been very quiet lately. The Oilers netminder had another excellent outing, as he stopped 21 of 22 shots for a sparkling .955 save percentage (SV%). After a miserable start to the season, the 26-year-old is slowly creeping back up to the .900 SV% mark, as he currently sits with a .895 SV% on the campaign. Skinner has been excellent in his last five starts, posting above a .935 SV% in all of them.
He made some clutch saves to keep the game tied at one in the second period, and some key saves in the third to maintain their one-goal lead. The biggest problem with Skinner is his inability to make big saves at important moments of the game. Well, he’s definitely making them now, and that’s huge not only for his confidence, but also for the team in front of him. He’s found his game, as expected, and he just needs to maintain some consistency.
Oilers’ Defence Prevails
The Oilers have had a hard time closing out games so far this season. They blew a late lead against the Vegas Golden Knights back on Nov. 6, they couldn’t hang on against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 16, and they nearly blew a 3-0 lead against the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 7. However, they took a 2-1 lead into the third period against the Lightning in this one, and found a way to close it out, in large part to their goaltending, but also their defensive awareness and effort level.
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It’s no easy task going up against Nikita Kucherov and this Lightning squad, but the Oilers managed to tighten up defensively and prevent high-danger looks from this high-powered offence. The effort and attention to detail were so apparent in this game. They were backchecking hard, forcing giveaways, and using active sticks to force turnovers and transition the puck the other way. They kept them to the outside, and didn’t allow anything easy.
This whole team bought in defensively, including the forwards. Kapanen had a great shot block in the last half of the third period. He felt that one as he was slow to get up. He put his body on the line which is what you need to do in close games, especially come playoff time. Tampa Bay is averaging 3.81 goals-per-game which ranks them second in the league, and Edmonton shut them down, while holding them to only one goal. That’s an encouraging sign, and they need to maintain this level of defensive prowess. While they still need to find a top-four defenceman to play alongside Darnell Nurse, if their blue line can remain steady, they have the ability to wait until closer to the trade deadline to make a trade, rather than overpaying now and making a panic move.
The Oilers have won six of their last seven games which catapulted them into third place in the Pacific Division, passing the Vancouver Canucks in the process. They are back in action Thursday night (Dec. 12) when they hit the road for a date with the Minnesota Wild, before returning home for a five-game homestand to take us into the Christmas break.
