The Edmonton Oilers could be deeper and more dangerous than they have been all season on Monday, which promises a stiff test for the host Ottawa Senators.
The Oilers are on a four-game winning streak, most recently defeating the Montreal Canadiens 7-2 on Saturday. It was the Oilers’ highest-scoring game of the season and their largest margin of victory.
While the seven-goal barrage did come against the worst team in the league, it did provide instant evidence of Evander Kane’s impact on Edmonton’s depth chart. Kane scored a goal in his Oilers debut, and with the newly signed forward joining Connor McDavid and Kailer Yamamoto on the top line, the Oilers were able to deploy their top scorers throughout the lineup.
“I think you’re able to see how spread out the lines were and how we were able to get contributions from all four lines,” said forward Zach Hyman, who recorded two goals and an assist. “I think that when you’re able to roll all four lines, it wears on teams. You’re able to be fresh. It’s not fun to play against when you have a new set of guys who are just dangerous going out every shift.”
The Oilers had 14 different players with at least one point in the game, and Hyman was one of five with multiple points. Leon Draisaitl scored two goals, giving the star forward 61 points (31 goals, 30 assists) over 40 games this season.
Despite losses in their past two games, and an overall record ranking them 30th of the league’s 32 teams, the Senators defense has generally held its own, most notably with an improving penalty-kill unit that is a perfect 13-for-13 over Ottawa’s last five games.
The Senators, however, need more offense. In Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Anaheim, Ottawa outshot the Ducks by a 45-20 margin, yet Tyler Ennis’ first-period marker was all the Senators could manage.
“Their goalie put a clinic on,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said of Anaheim’s red-hot John Gibson. “You can try and come up with reasons why you don’t score or come up with different excuses. Forty-five shots and plenty of good looks, so he the difference. … We’re not an easy out, but we’re having a tough time scoring for sure.”
Though the Senators still rank near the bottom of the league in shots on goal, five of Ottawa’s six highest shot totals of the season have come in the team’s last seven games. Somehow, even while averaging more than eight shots a game more than their opponents (39.0-30.9), the Senators have won only two of those games (2-3-2) while scoring just 17 goals (2.43 per game).
Take last week’s 5-0 win over Buffalo out of the equation and Ottawa has been outscored 18-12 in the last half of January. That dates back to the Senators’ only other meeting with the Oilers this season — a 6-4 Ottawa victory on Jan. 15 in Edmonton.
Because the Senators play Tuesday at the New York Islanders, goaltenders Anton Forsberg and Matt Murray figure to split the back-to-back starts. Forsberg got the nod against Anaheim, stopping 18 of 20 shots.
Edmonton backup goalie Stuart Skinner got the win over Montreal on Saturday, so regular starter Mikko Koskinen will likely be back in action on Monday. Koskinen is 3-0-0 with a .933 save percentage in his last three games.
–Field Level Media
