The Edmonton Oilers salvaged some of their lost ground in the second half of the 10-game slate.
For the Edmonton Oilers, there was only up after a completely awful opening ten games of the 2023–24 season. Or at least, cyclical, which was a positive development in and of itself (though not a significant enough one to preserve Jay Woodcroft’s employment).
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The results of the next ten games were as follows: lose two, win three, lose two. With a flat record of 5-5-0, the Oilers had everything but a Bettman Point. which was good enough to keep the team competitive in the Western Conference Wild Card race but did little to advance the team in the currently.548 league.
this as of the first thing on Monday. With 29–30 points apiece, the top three in the Pacific may have long since vanished, but the Western Conference’s bottom half isn’t exactly blazing a trail. Listed here according to points percentage, we can see that a team with a perfect.500 record currently holds the final Wild Card spot. Additionally, none of them qualify as “hot”; the featured column on the far right reveals that none of them have scored more than 12 points in their previous ten games. In other words, two more than the Oilers, but not quite vanishing from sight. Granted, the Oilers will eventually have to prove themselves, but encouraging things are finally beginning to happen.
Regular readers of this feature will know that the main factor influencing medium-term outcomes like these is PDO, which is the total of shooting percentage and save percentage. Testing that information against the W-L-O record for each of the aforementioned ten segments makes it simple to confirm.
The Oilers had terrible results in this volatile category for the first ten games of the season, and they continued to perform poorly well into the second before making a big turn around in the final two games. That was sufficient to bring the entire segment within a few basis points of the 1.000 midpoint. Over the course of the ten games, the Oilers outscored their opponents by six goals, with an average advantage of over five goals per game in the segment. Unfortunately, the goal distribution was, to put it mildly, less than ideal, with some tallies being “wasted” in blowout victories.
Ultimately, the shooting percentage increased from a pitiful 8.1% to 11.9%, nearly four full percentage points higher than the previous season’s 11.8%, which led the entire NHL. Goal prevention will continue to be a top priority as the team’s save percentage improved from a dismal.864 to a still-poor.879 in this regard. The team, not “just” the goalies, managed a save percentage of just over.900 last year; in the upcoming segments, they’ll need to get much closer to that mark.
The team is still performing better. In the second part, Goals Against decreased by 8, while Goals For increased by 12. Both special teams performed better, both on and off the ice. The net powerplay % (PPGF – SHGA / PP Opportunities) increased from 19% to 24%, while the corresponding net penalty kill rate increased from 72% to 90%.
Here at the Cult of Hockey, our own analysis also shows improving trends. The Oilers produced 57% of Grade A shots overall (138 for, 104 against) in the second ten-game set, as opposed to 52% in the first ten. Regarding the portion of the highest-risk opportunities that we refer to as 5-alarm shots, the Oil moved from below average (47%) to a strong 55% (74 in favor, 61 against). The conclusion that Edmonton’s 54% goal share in that category was purchased with money is supported by both figures.
Early in the second period, season starter Jack Campbell was waived and sent to the AHL, giving Stuart Skinner the majority of the netminding responsibilities. Even though he made a remarkable improvement from the awful, his play remained rather inconsistent.861, 3.62 he scored in 6 games during the first 10. Rather than being the end goal, oil fans fervently hope it’s a step towards his true level.
