The Oilers (3-6) are what their record says they are - Edmonton Sun

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Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews (34) celebrates a goal on Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Mikko Koskinen (19) with teammates during third period NHL action at Rogers Place in Edmonton, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. Photo by Ian Kucerak /Postmedia

The penalty-killing? Do they miss Riley Sheahan that much?

OK, that’s a reach. But even when they’re not giving up PP goals this season, the other team’s zone entries seem seamless. And teams are setting up for 30 seconds, 45 seconds, a full minute, with nary a clear down the ice from the Oilers. Or maybe there’s not enough black and blue for the orange and blue. That’s Tippett’s theory.

“Penalty-killing is (about) sacrificing, getting in lanes and getting saves. On the last two goals we gave up, our players didn’t want to get in the lane and we didn’t get a save. I liked our try but ultimately we’re shooting ourselves in the foot and it’s costing us goals,” said Tippett.

No argument from McDavid, who isn’t brushing off the 3-6 start, at all.

“Well, we’re nine games in. I think we’re done figuring it out here. We need to start putting together games,” said the captain, who knows there’s not one recurring theme from game to game.

“One night it’s the power play. One night it’s a little bit of a lull. One night it’s another thing. So we have to collectively come together and put together 60 full minutes. It sounds so cliche but all areas need to be riding together and that hasn’t happened for us yet.” said McDavid.

“I didn’t like our first two periods at all, especially our first. I thought in the second we did an alright job of just settling the game down,” he said. “We found a way to hang around and I thought the third period was pretty good minus a couple of penalties and some PK goals against. Lots of power plays both ways, kind of a weird game but I thought our game wasn’t where it needed to be at all.”

Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (97) battles Toronto Maple Leafs’ Morgan Reilly (44) during third period NHL action at Rogers Place in Edmonton, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. Photo by Ian Kucerak /Postmedia

Leafs are on a roll

Right now, there is precious little belief that the Oilers can win a game. Different story with the 7-2 Leafs, who haven’t always looked pretty but they’ve won five games by a single goal. They’ve won four straight.

“We’ve been resilient and been gritty and we’re finding ways to win at the end. Winning breads confidence and we’re starting to believe that we can win every night,” said Leafs’ Jason Spezza, who had his 231st multiple-point game with a goal and an assist in the first period.

The Oilers, 1-4 at Rogers Place, haven’t won more than one game in a row.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vZWRtb250b25zdW4uY29tL3Nwb3J0cy9ob2NrZXkvbmhsL2VkbW9udG9uLW9pbGVycy90aGUtb2lsZXJzLTMtNi1hcmUtd2hhdC10aGVpci1yZWNvcmQtc2F5cy10aGV5LWFyZdIBmgFodHRwczovL2VkbW9udG9uc3VuLmNvbS9zcG9ydHMvaG9ja2V5L25obC9lZG1vbnRvbi1vaWxlcnMvdGhlLW9pbGVycy0zLTYtYXJlLXdoYXQtdGhlaXItcmVjb3JkLXNheXMtdGhleS1hcmUvd2NtL2QxM2ZjYjZmLTVkMDItNDRiMC1hM2U0LTExZjEwNTc4NTc0Zi9hbXAv?oc=5

2021-01-29 13:47:17Z
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