Against Eastern Conference gauntlet, the Oilers will measure how good they are

Judging the Edmonton Oilers on how they played in a 7-3 loss to Minnesota — their fifth game in seven days and the second game of a back-to-back — isn’t fair. Losses like that are going to happen, and the fact they won all four games prior softens the inevitable blow of coming up short on the tail end of a long stretch.

But holding up the ol’ measuring stick for the next five days, as the Oilers roll through Tampa, Florida and Carolina?

Well, if you’re not going to get a gauge on your club when they play the best teams in hockey — on the road — then we would ask you this: When ARE you going to start to form an opinion on how good a team these Oilers truly are?

As Leon Draisaitl said last week, when asked of the gauntlet his team was about to run, “We’re a good team too.”

“I would agree with Leon,” said head coach Jay Woodcroft after Wednesday morning’s pre-game skate. “They (the Lightning) are a very good hockey team, but we’re good hockey team too.”

This is the Oilers in a nutshell, right?

A team that finished in second place in its Division for two years running but flamed out in the playoffs both years. They’ve got a handful of very good players, allowing them to have a league-leading opening quarter, but somehow it all imploded, costing Dave Tippett his job.

Fact: Tonight is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ 700th career NHL game.

Debunked myth: The Oilers centre has had 700 coaches in his career. (Nine, actually.)

Nugent-Hopkins has seen it all over his 11 seasons as an Oiler. All but the part where the team gets over the top, that is.

“You think about it a little bit, and you reflect a little bit on the 700 games that I’ve played — pretty crazy to be here,” reminisced Nugent-Hopkins, the first-overall draft pick from 2011 who is still only 28 years old. “But you just focus on getting a win tonight. At the end of the day, still, it’s just another game. But definitely you reflect a little bit on the 700 that you’ve played.”

Nugent-Hopkins signed an eight-year deal last summer that will make him an Oiler for life. And when a player of this pedigree — perhaps not great, but very good and very versatile — wants to play in Edmonton for the rest of his career, the Oilers simply can not say no. Not when you are as many “no trade” lists as this city finds itself.

But the patient Nugent-Hopkins must privately wonder: Is THIS Oilers team, under THIS coach, the one that finally finds the right combination to turn a good regular season team into a successful playoff run?

Like the kids say from the back seat, “Are we there yet…?”

Well, these next three games will give us some evidence on which to form that opinion.

“The bottom line is,” said Woodcroft, “in order to have a good hockey team, you have to have good players. And we have very good hockey players. I see a group of 23 individuals working together towards a common goal. And I what I’ve seen over my time here is people willing to sacrifice in order to win.”

The Oilers have not won a game at Tampa in a decade, an eight-game losing streak (0-7-1) that began in March of 2012. In fact, their last win in Tampa came in 2009.

In the past month, however, Edmonton’s 10-3-1 record ranks fifth in the NHL, behind only Calgary, Colorado, Tampa and Los Angeles. Their five-on-five production has greatly improved under Woodcroft, while the Oilers wait for their power play to crawl out of winter hibernation.

And while the penalty kill has also rehabbed itself a bit lately, it still ranks dead last in the NHL since Dec. 5 at a porous 67.9 per cent. That, and defensive structure top Woodcroft’s to-do list, with 32 games remaining in the regular season for Edmonton.

“There is nothing for free, and we’re well aware of that,” said Woodcroft, referring to a game against the two-time Stanley Cup champs. That Lightning team has only played one game in the past 12 days however, and is coming off of a seven-day break — likely a distinct advantage for an Oilers team that just finished playing five in seven and has enjoyed a nice, two-day break before resuming tonight.

Here’s the lineup Woodcroft is expected to ice tonight. He is sticking with his 11-and-7 alignment, while still missing the injured Duncan Keith (upper body), Jesse Puljujarvi (lower-body), Zack Kassian (broken jaw), and Kris Russell (lower-body):

McLeod | McDavid | Hyman

Kane | Draisaitl | Yamamoto

Foegele | Nugent-Hopkins | Ryan

Shore | Benson

Nurse | Bouchard

Lagesson | Ceci

Broberg | Barrie

Niemelainen

Smith

Against Eastern Conference gauntlet, the Oilers will measure how good they are
Source: Pinas Ko Mahal