NHL Line Change: The Edmonton Oilers are unstoppable
By Alli Baker
The Edmonton Oilers are one of the best teams in hockey. Just let that sink in.
Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. The Oilers are on a roll; the Chicago Blackhawks aren’t one of the top ten teams in the league and a very old man (kidding but not completely) has scored a lot of goals (not kidding in the slightest).
The NHL has seen a lot of action this week. Let’s take a closer look at who’s been on the rise and who’s falling.
Rising: Edmonton Oilers
Things may finally be looking up for the Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton – previously the laughing stock of the league – is now one of the NHL’s best teams. The Oilers currently sit at second place in the league, with a record of 5-1-0 and 10 points, making this Edmonton’s best six-game start since 1985-86.
Now I know Montreal is also having a great start to the season, but for the past few seasons, the Canadiens have been pretty decent. The Oilers, on the other hand, have been really terrible. So this team’s climb out of the league’s basement is just a little more impressive. Edmonton has a lot of hockey left to play, but so far things are looking good for this revamped team.
Falling: Arizona Coyotes
While the Oilers have been busy turning things around, the Arizona Coyotes have been busy experiencing more of the same.
Despite an opening night win and a roster filled with some great, young talent, the Coyotes haven’t had much luck in 2016. Arizona has yet to win a game since defeating the Flyers in overtime on October 15; Anthony Duclair and Max Domi have combined for a mere two assists; and goaltender Mike Smith is out of the picture for at least the next couple of days. This team is falling fast, and its youngsters need to get going before a dreadful start turns into a dreadful season.
Rising: Zach Parise
This week, Minnesotan Zach Parise became the top active American-born goal scorer in the league after scoring his 300th and 301st goals. That milestone makes Parise only the 196th player in league history to score 300 or more goals.
Falling: Minnesota’s Power Play
While Minnesota’s No. 11 has been on the rise, the team’s power play has gone the other way. The Wild currently has the fourth-worst power play percentage in the league at 11.5 percent. Minnesota has managed to score just three lonely power play goals on 26 attempts so far this season, and things don’t look like they’re changing any time soon.
Rising: Jaromir Jagr
Jaromir Jagr is 44 years old. He’s tallied 750 goals. Only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe have scored more. Need I say anything else? I don’t think so.
Falling: Goaltenders
While Jagr soars, NHL goaltenders are falling. Like, literally. They are dropping like flies (and not like butterflies. Sorry, bad goalie pun).
Goaltenders across the league are apparently suffering from some sort of goalie plague this year. In the first two weeks of the season alone, a concerning number of netminders have missed time due to some form of injury or illness: Matt Murray, Jonathon Quick, Jeff Zatkoff, Mike Smith, Anton Khudobin, Tukka Rask, Pekke Rinne, Carey Price and Robin Lehner have all been affected by this goalie epidemic.
I don’t know what’s going on with goaltenders this year, but let’s hope they get these injuries and illnesses under control quickly. Or it’s going to be a long and painful season for many teams.
Rising: Edmonton Oiler’s Goaltender
Also known as Cam Talbot.
The rest of the league might be in the middle of a goaltender crisis, but the exact opposite is happening in Edmonton. In fact, Edmonton is having one of its best years in quite some time, thanks, in part, to its brick wall of a goalie.
Talbot, the NHL’s First Star, went 3-0-0 over the past week, recording a 1.00 goals-against average and .970 save percentage in the process. Half his competition may be out of the picture, but that’s still pretty impressive.
Falling: Toronto Maple Leafs
While one young and upcoming team rises, another falls. Connor McDavid and his Oilers are on a roll. Auston Matthews and his Maple Leafs, on the other hand, keep rolling right past easy wins.
The Maple Leafs might be one of the most energetic and entertaining teams in the league this season. But they are going to lose a lot of games if they can’t figure out how to play with a lead.
Out of the five games this young team has played so far, they’ve lost four all due to blown leads. They lost again last night but never led. The Leafs start so strong, and for some reason, just can’t seem to hold things together for a full 60 minutes. No. 1 draft pick or not, if this team can’t play a full game, it’s going to be a long year.
Rising: Detroit Red Wings
Despite a rocky start, things look to be turning around for Detroit.
After dropping the first two games of the season, the Red Wings have won their last five in a row, proving they’re not going down that easily. Now the season is only two weeks old, and there’s still a lot of hockey to play. But nonetheless, the Wings look like they’re done spending time at the bottom of the league.
I mean, you can’t let a 25-season playoff streak go that easily, right?
Falling: Chicago Blackhawks’ Penalty Kill
Fun fact: The Chicago Blackhawks have allowed 14 power play goals on just 26 chances.
That’s not a fun fact if you’re a Blackhawks fan; I’m sorry. But it is a fact. And it’s hurting the Hawks this season. Big time.
Chicago, currently the owner of a league-worst 46.1 penalty kill percentage, is coming off a shootout loss to Calgary. A loss that occurred, in large part, because of power play goals. The Blackhawks will likely be able to figure out how to fix the PK as the season goes on, but things might be too late for the perennial playoff contenders if this stat doesn’t change quickly.
So there you have it. Your NHL risers and fallers after week two of hockey action. Obviously a lot can change in the next six months, but for now, the risers look to keep rising, and the fallers look to turn things around.