Edmonton Oilers digging themselves out of the ditch with defence

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Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been on the playoff road along the Edmonton Oilers, but it was the defense that made them dig out of the ditch.

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After seeing all the momentum in the 22-6-2 mid-2 hit a wall in the February game, and the two weeks of rest for face-to-face meetings in four countries, the Oilers found themselves in a rut, resulting in a season-high five-game losing.

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From there, win, win, lose, lose, lose, because they are ranked third in the rest ranking and have been standing out for the first three weeks.

Every step forward seems to be in the reverse direction as they fail to get any traction in the standings.

But lately, the Oilers have started to move in the right direction, promoting the opposition’s scoring chances by moving to D for defense and surrendering only one goal in the last three games to their first three games since January 16.

“Of course, when you take care of the breaks, we’re a rock band, we played terrible, we’re doing a huge job, we’re doing a huge job,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch.

“After the first three games, maybe four games we’ve gotten better and better throughout the process, which started with our team’s defense and eliminated the rush opportunity.”

First, overtime beat the New York Islanders 2-1 and then 3-1 to the New York Rangers, 2-2 in four games, which was a 3-2 defeat from the Buffalo Sabers who lost 3-2 and fell into the Eastern Conference basement.

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But the Oilers returned home and pushed the pedals toward the metal, and the offense ignited in a 7-1 explosion at Utah Hockey Club.

“Then, once you play better on defense, things work better offense, and we see (Tuesday).” Nobrach said.

“We’ve been checking, creating mistakes, fighting back. So we’ve been getting better and better over the past few weeks, but there’s certainly more room to grow.”

Does this mean the Oiler has moved to speeding until the playoffs to ride the car.

“I don’t want to be ahead of myself too early,” Nobruch said. “Our game was great, we surpassed a team and won three games in a row, but it was better.

“(The playoffs) are in everyone’s vision right now, so I think it’s kind of going to do that. I think it’s about how much we’re doing on the defense. Everyone understands the importance of dialing in it and making sure our defensive performance is better forward to the playoffs.”

While the recent push has already gained more production among some forwards who have been playing the role of passengers this season, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stood out with a three-point back-to-back game–it was on the blue line, with rubber slamming into the well-known path.

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“For our group, we know that if we want to have that type of season, we want to boil it down to defense,” said Nurse Darnell, a defender.

“It has to keep going. There are a lot of good steps to defend. The main thing is (keep) (shoot) outside, our goalkeepers are really great for us for the last three.”

The good news for D-Corps is that they are starting to turn things around without key defender Mattias Ekholm, who returned after losing his first six games on Tuesday as he returned with a lower body injury. Meanwhile, Jake Walman’s trade downtime acquisition is maintaining a foothold with his new club.

“Eky and (Evan) Bouch (ARD) continue to do amazing drama,” the nurse said. “I think it’s really exciting to see our six groups and watch our backend and be a part of it as we continue to get more and more chemistry and mesh.”

But the nurses not only played defense on Tuesday. He had a passionate dusty ride with Utah forward Jack McBain.

“Our game has to have a physical element and biting element, and we’ll definitely have some work in the lineup and lineup,” the nurse said. “It’s definitely something I can bring, too. It’s fun to be a part when it’s heavy and there’s this physical game.”

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Of course, the trick now is to find consistency in consistency, that is, as a team, the oilers are at the start of the most important thing once they start playing best hockey.

“I think we just need to keep on the game, especially on the offensive end,” the nurse said. “You’re going to go through stretching that the puck doesn’t get in, but as long as you keep creating opportunities, the odds will be in your favor.

“For our team, people are not discouraged, they continue to perform well and have confidence, and that has to continue because the more opportunities we give ourselves, the more we will benefit in the end.”

Email: godejong@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @gerrymoddejonge

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