Having already played close to half their season allotment of road games, the Edmonton Oilers returned home Monday from another gruelling trip confident there are reasons for optimism looking ahead.
Captain Connor McDavid said he saw positive signs in the team’s game after winning three of the seven games in the 11-day trip. Now the team has to take advantage of having six of their next seven games at home.
“That was a tough trip, a lot of games, a lot of cities,” he said. “The bulk of [our schedule] on the road is done. On the road for two weeks, we didn’t have one practice. That was a tough stretch so we have to take advantage of practice time, and rest time too.
“Looking forward to finding our best game here at home. We just want to play a solid game, keep our game consistent, roll it over game to game, that’s what’s important right now.”
Despite their struggles and inconsistency, the Oilers’ 10-9-5 record for 25 points leaves them just four points behind the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks. They are, however, in sixth place and every team ahead of them has games in hand.
One of the reasons for optimism is the expected return this week of veteran forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has been out since Nov. 10.
“We haven’t played with a full deck all year,” McDavid said. “Kind of always had one guy in, one guy out.Â
âLooking forward to getting everyone back healthy. It’s been rare but looking like it could be that way in a bit.”
Nugent-Hopkins could be back as early as Tuesday night’s home game against the Dallas Stars. Having had to sit and watch his teammates on television, Nugent-Hopkins said he also found positives in the Oilers’ game.
“The last few games I thought they played really hard, they were doing the right things,” he said. “Probably could have come out with a couple more wins on the trip, but I thought the Florida game was high intensity.
“We played solid, we played stingy, defensive first and that’s how, the further along we go here, the more it sets in that we’re a defensive team first. That’s how we’re going to win.”
That’s also how the team played in their 2-1 overtime loss in Tampa Bay two nights before their 6-3 win over Florida on Saturday to end the road trip.
“I think back to Tampa, the way we were defending, how hard we were on pucks,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “We were winning one-on-one battles. Our stick positioning was really good. You could just see in the group we were going to defend our way to a win.
“Obviously they got the one late, but I thought we did a great job of fending them off and that’s what’s going to give us success down the line.”
The longest-serving Oiler and a former No. 1 overall draft pick, Nugent-Hopkins said the players understand their early-season struggles aren’t going to just magically disappear.
“We understand it takes a lot of work and we have the ability to do it,” he said. “It’s going to start with work, doing the right things and by no means do we sit here and think, âDon’t worry, don’t worry, it will come.â We understand we have to make it happen.”
Following Tuesday’s home game the Oilers are in Seattle on Saturday and then home for five games.
