Player Grades, Games 1-10 – Surreal Special Teams Drive Oilers to Record Start

Article content

Since “Team of the Century,” Edmonton Oilers have not left the starting gate with the ferocity they have shown in the early days of the 2021-22 campaign. And even that brilliant 1984-85 Oilers team failed to pull off 9 wins in the first 10 games, posting an 8-0-2 record for 18 identical points, on days when ties were ties and shootouts were. a dystopian nightmare. from the future.

Article content

Edmonton also played to a 2-2 tie in overtime in its first game that year, and that’s where the score was. The newly crowned Stanley Cup champions began filling the net immediately after, posting a staggering 61-25 goal difference in their first 10-game segment. They finally extended their undefeated race to 15 games (12-0-3) before losing his first decision of the year a month into the season… to the Philadelphia Flyers. That red-hot start is still the NHL registration .

Any day that a comparison can be made between the different eras of the dynasty squad is a good day. These modern greasers have launched their 2021-22 campaign with a 9-1-0 record, losing only to that same Philadelphia Flyers team in Game 6. Otherwise, they have found ways to win from a couple of tight decisions. over Vancouver to a couple of crazy, insane 6-5 wins over the Anaheim and New York Rangers that actually sparked memories of the 1980s.

Article content

Hands down, the opening race was the best of any 10-game stretch since we started doing segment reviews here at the Hockey cult in 2010-11. The only one that came close was the 11-20 Games last season, where the Oilers shot to an 8-2-0 streak after stumbling out of the gate. Then, as now, they outscored their combined opposition by an impressive 16 goals.

2021:

Games 1-10: 4-6-0, .400 | 30 GF, 36 GA | 316 SF, 327 SA | 0.985 PDO
Games 11-20: 8-2-0, .800 | 42 GF, 26 GA | 300 SF, 323 SA | 1,060 PDO
Games 21-30: 6-4-0, .600 | 28 GF, 25 GA | 329 SF, 288 SA | 0.998 PDO
Games 31-40: 6-2-2, .700 | 31 GF, 27 GA | 262 SF, 298 SA | 1,028 PDO
Games 41-50: 7-3-0, .700 | 32 GF, 20 GA | 275 SF, 302 SA | 1,050 PDO

2021-22:

Games 1-10: 9-1-0, .900 | 44 GF, 28 GA | 331 SF, 339 SA | 1,050 PDO

Article content

As in each of the most successful stretches (.700 or more) last season, the Oilers were outscored over the course of 10 games. Once again, they drove the percentages hard, landing 5% more of their shots than their opponents (13.3% to 8.3%). A big part of that is scoring effects – consider that the Oilers have led for 325 minutes and are behind by just 102 up to this starting point. But a big factor is Edmonton’s ability to create and finish high-level scoring opportunities, fueled by two elite scorers but increasingly backed by a productive supporting cast.

Our own count here in the Hockey cult indicate that over 10 games Oil has done a better job than its opponents in generating Grade A shots , especially in special equipment:

Article content

Those magnificent special teams have been the key, whether it be counting dangerous shots like the previous ones or real goals:

In 10 out of 10 games, Edmonton’s power play has produced at least 1 goal, beating his opponent’s PP in 8 of those games and matching his outing in the other 2. Overall, the Oilers have outscored their opponent. 16-4 in men’s advantage situations, despite playing 25% more time in the PK than in the PP. Include a 4-3 lead in goalie kickoff scenarios (any team) and 3v3 overtime successes and even penalty shootouts (all variations of the “special teams” game in my book) and the Oilers have managed to go 9-1 -0 despite being very close to a balancing squad in the primary state of the 5v5 game.

Article content

Let’s move on to the individual performances, starting as usual with the men between the tubes:

objective

Mikko koskinen has obtained 75% of the workload, playing every minute since Mike smith he left midway through Game 3 with an injury that continues to knock him out of play. It follows that Koskinen led the majority of the counting stats, but Oilers fans should be delighted with the matching .920 savings percentages. Netminders have held their own up to this point, as reflected by their average page ratings.

Defending

It’s nice to have 3 defenders north of the 0.5 point per game marker that roughly defines a productive blueliner. Tyson barrie He got off to a slow start for at least the third year in a row, but he’s still finding ways to score points. Nurse Darnell He didn’t light the lamp once in every 36 shots, but he’s been picking apples by bushel. Evan bouchard He also seemed to rack up points as if by osmosis, a very promising early sign in his first season as a full-time player.

Article content

The rest of the defense corps has been a relatively low event while maintaining a rough balance goal differential.

Forward

It’s no wonder to see the NHL’s best duo of Leon draisitl and Connor McDavid topping this table, as they have in virtually every 10-game segment over the past few seasons. That Draisaitl has his nose up front, for now, is the only slight surprise, and even that isn’t surprising given he’s a former scoring champion and recipient of the Hart Trophy. Draisaitl leads the NHL in points (23), game-winning goals (4) and over-under. Its fabulous +12 in that latter category confirms that the Big Diesel has been productive in 5v5 whether paired with McDavid or driving its own line, while its special teams’ play has been exemplary on both sides of the equation. In all situations, he has been on the ice with 31 notable goals from the Oilers and only 6 against. That 30% shooting percentage can’t be expected to hold up, but it was a collective 20.1% over the previous three seasons, so it’s not. that very out of line with his story.

Article content

The very nice development is the presence of another three (3) forwards with double-digit points, which in a 10-game segment naturally translates to a point-per-game production rate of 1.0 or more. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins laughs that “I don’t know if I’m on a streak or a losing streak” with his strange league-leading 0-goal, 14-assist divisions. Jesse puljujarvi continues his emergence as a high-level power forward, while signing a high-profile free agent Zach Hyman has delivered the merchandise up to this point. Compare and contrast with 2021, where in five segments where the only greasers besides 97 and 29 that scored up to 8 points in one segment were RNH and JP, each only once. The emergence of complementary scores in the top six has been huge.

Article content

On the downside, the bottom six have some new players, but they continue to run on the downside of goals for / against the ledger. The third row scored some big goals early on, but that has dried up, while the bleeding has continued on the defensive side of the puck. Perhaps that’s an underlying reason why Dave Tippett seems willing to change. Zack kassian by Kailer yamamoto on the next road trip.

Player Ratings

We close in our usual way reviewing the 10-game set through the lens of our own subjective ratings here at the Hockey cult . Regular readers will know that we rate each Edmonton Oilers player’s performance in every game the team plays on a scale of 1 to 10, based on a combination of observation and interpretation of statistical results. Here are the average ratings for Games 1-10 along with our usual thumbnail comment that summarizes each player’s contribution over that span:

Article content

Results by qualifier, first segment: