Coach Knoblauch Calls Meeting at Oilers Practice After Meltdown Game
After a meltdown third period loss to the rival Vegas Golden Knights last night, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch was looking for a lot more from his team at practice.
The Oilers shook up the lineup again at practice today, sending Jeff Skinner back to the third line and Nugent-Hopkins back to the first. Coach Knoblauch also called individual meetings with both the penalty kill and powerplay units, both of which are ranking near the bottom of the NHL.
The Oilers powerplay will likely figure it out with the elite talent, but their slow start isn't helping the team's results right now. The penalty kill is operating at a horrific 60%, which is last in the NHL and 5% worse than any other team. Coach Knoblauch has explained the penalty kill failures this year as a matter of execution - the players simply aren't doing their jobs. A meeting from the coaches like this is clearly a direct way to hammer them with the game plan.
The Oilers have shown flashes of their full potential with some decent games, but overall, the team has produced mediocre results so far this year. Special teams are a major reason for that, and it may be because of the lost personnel specifically on the penalty kill. The powerplay will bounce back eventually, but the Oilers lost many quality penalty killers in Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, Vinny Desharnais, and Cody Ceci. They may be paying the price for that with these early struggles to execute.
Now with a 6-7-1 record, the Oilers have avoided the disaster that was last season, but they still need to start to show their cup contender capabilities. Knoblauch is doing what he can to instruct the players were they need to do better - now it's on the players to win their minutes.
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