Edmonton Oilers Set New Franchise Low With This Troubling Stat Against Sharks
Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal tweeted out a stat that has become troubling for the Oilers as they only registered four hits in the entire game against the San Jose Sharks.
He mentioned that defenseman Darnell Nurse had two and that Evan Bouchard and Brett Kulak had one each and specifically mentioned that all forwards had zero hits.
This has become a trend that people are noticing with the Oilers as they have become less aggressive along the boards and play a different brand of hockey then they did last year. This new identity has given the team a view that they have become soft.
League pundits and media close to the team have also mentioned that the Oilers are not responding to players who are under duress from the opponents including Evan Bouchard who received a dirty hit last week from Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman.
Many who have watched the game over the years decades state that playoff hockey is all about fighting for every inch of the ice as the lanes grow smaller and the ice becomes less available for free willing and scoring.
Even though it's been widely stated that general manager Stan Bowman have been looking for another defenseman to fill in in the top 4, it's safe to say the team will need some toughness as well as the season wears on and as they approach the playoffs.
Many awaits the return of Evander Kane who is currently recovering from major surgery he had done to his abdomen at the beginning of the year.
Once fully healthy, he would certainly inject a nastiness to the Oilers offense and ensure other teams would not have liberties towards their players.
This edition of the Oilers is certainly playing different style of hockey compared to what they did last year and it remains to be seen on how this will shake out and if the Oilers make several changes prior to the March trade deadline.
