Oilers prove point, Bouchard has the Blues, and poor Hyman

yesterday

Edmonton Journal

“It was a tough night but he doesn’t have those very often. We had some other guys who didn’t play their best, either. I’m not putting this on Evan"

Oilers - Figure 1 — Photo Edmonton Journal

Published Dec 17, 2024 • 4 minute read

Florida Panthers forard Matthew Tkachuk scores a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinnner during the first period of the game at Rogers Place on Dec. 16, 2024, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Photo by Leila Devlin /Getty Images

If you told the Edmonton Oilers, before they set out on their four-game journey of discovery through the heart of the NHL’s heavyweight division, that they’d go 3-1 and outscore the other guys 20-11, they’d have been good with that.

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With good reason.

It ended poorly, with a wildly entertaining 6-5 loss to the Florida Panthers, in which Edmonton’s offence had one of its best nights of the season and still couldn’t outscore the mistakes, but that was a solid run against the NHL’s elite.

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Beating Tampa Bay (2-1), Minnesota (7-1) and Vegas (6-3) showed the Oilers exactly where they are. At their best, as far as mid-December hockey goes, they belong among those elite teams.

And that’s all they need to be when the playoffs are still four months away.

A dozen things can and will happen between now and April that will determine whether the Oilers are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders again, but we’ve seen enough to know that they can get there from here.

Takeaways from Monday’s road hockey loss to Florida:

THE BOUCHARD BLUES

Maybe he’s fighting through some kind of tweak after being taken out awkwardly late in the Minnesota game, but Monday was one of those nights Evan Bouchard should have just stayed in bed.

He opened the game by blowing a tire at the offensive blue line seconds into an Oilers power play, setting up a shorthanded breakaway goal for Jesper Boqvist. Then he takes a penalty to wipe out what was left of the man advantage.

Tough start. And it didn’t get better. He was on the ice for all three of Florida’s third-period goals and just to top things off, it was his shot that deflected off a Florida player and hit Zach Hyman in the face.

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“I’ve definitely seen Evan play a lot better than that,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “It was a tough night but he doesn’t have those very often. We had some other guys who didn’t play their best, either. I’m not putting this on Evan.”

Oilers - Figure 3 — Photo Edmonton Journal

This happens from time to time when a player who is just OK defensively commands major ice time because of how good he is offensively, the problem is that his offence has taken a step backward from last season.

He has 23 points in 31 games, which is closer to the pace that netted him 40 and 43 points in his first two full seasons and a long way from when he spiked to 114 points in 106 regular season and playoff games last season.

Other than costing him a lot of money as he plays out the final year of his bargain basement $3.9 million deal, it’s a vital weapon the team doesn’t have access to at the moment.

“A lot of everything,” Bouchard said, when asked what he needs to work on after the Florida mess. “Not acceptable tonight.”

Maybe he can flick the switch like Zach Hyman did, but right now he’s searching for answers at both ends of the ice.

WHAT A NIGHT

It went from one end of the spectrum to the other for Hyman on Monday. He scores once in the first period and again in the second to give him seven goals in six games since returning from an injury.

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It just illustrates how stupid it was for the Four Nations Face Off teams to be announced two and a half months before the tournament.

Unfortunately, the night took a painful turn for Hyman when a Bouchard shot from the point deflected up into his face and he had to leave the game, pouring blood, for repairs.

He returned in a full face shield and almost competed the hat trick, delivering a classic hockey player moment.

“The fact he skated to the bench under his own power surprised me, I thought he’d be lying on the ice,” said Knoblauch. “But obviously he’s tough. I saw him between periods and we’re very fortunate it didn’t get more of his head that it did.

“We’re lucky because he’s a very important part of our team and all things considered it could have been worse.”

A LITTLE SENSITIVE?

Speaking of bad starts, referee Kelly Sutherland wasted no time impacting the hockey game. He flagged Darnell Nurse for tripping with four minutes left in the first period, which was fine, but then added an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when Nurse complained about it.

You would hope a referee would have thicker skin in that situation, but nope.

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It left the Oilers short for four-straight minutes and lead to a Florida power play goal.

Nurse needs to zip his mouth in that situation but a referee also has to be poised enough to take a little grief. It’s an NHL hockey game, for heaven sakes, not a Grade 3 gym class.

“You’re not doing yourself any favours yelling at the referee,” said Knoblauch, well aware that you can never win an argument with a referee. “You’re either going to take another penalty, or a 10 (misconduct). And if you’re not going to the box it’s more likely that you’re upsetting the referee and he’s going to call another penalty later in the game.

“No matter who you are it doesn’t help you at all yelling at the referees.”

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