Babcock "Trying to Survive": Oilers Lack Of Depth Shows In 4-2 Loss to Mammoth

The Edmonton Oilers battled an emerging Utah Mammoth squad but came up short in a 4-2 loss, and head coach Mike Babcock says the heavy minutes his stars are logging have to stop. “I look at it every night and go, ‘What the heck am I doing?’” 

He also conceded, “I’m also trying to survive right now,” and said the heavy usage is a product of the injuries.

Edmonton played without Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matt Savoie, Jason Dickinson, Colton Dach and Jake Walman, leaving the team’s secondary scoring badly thinned. The plan used to be to play Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard most of the night, but for other coaches it was intentional. Babcock would like to do anything but, however he lacks options.

Essentially missing the Oilers second line, Babcock rode Connor McDavid for 25 minutes and 52 seconds. Leon Draisaitl played 23 minutes, and defenceman Evan Bouchard logged 27:03. “It has to stop,” Babcock said of the workload.

He acknowledged the team has been fortunate that games have been spaced out, but added, “that’s not the NHL. It’s impossible.”

That said, Babcock actually liked what the Oilers brought for most of Thursday's game. While the Oilers never led, they were always within reach until the empty-net goal that sealed it for Utah. Even in the first period, when Edmonton registered only three shots, they contained Utah. It was a low-event game, the kind that can win hockey games when a team is missing a good chunk of its roster. 

Babcock disliked the first and third goals against, calling the third a “freebie.” He also criticized a bench minor, saying the team “grabbed a guy’s head by our bench.” Remove those elements of the game and it wasn't a trainwreck, given how things could have gone. 

“I liked a lot about this game,” he said. “I like that everyone competed and dug in. It was a hard, tight-checking game.” McDavid agreed. “I thought we competed and put in a good effort,” the captain said. He wasn't about to make excuses, despite the team relying on the production from one line. “We expect to win every night, no matter who is on the lineup.”

Babcock continues to take positives out of the injury situation. “We’re seeing who can play and who can’t,” he said. If the Oilers can hang on and stay in games until reinforcements arrive, they should be fine. That just means going through some low points “... right now we’re not as deep, and I thought that showed tonight.”

The Oilers get another chance against Utah on Saturday. If Hyman is cleared to return, that's one piece of the injury puzzle solved. Nugent-Hopkins was skating and the coach said Dickinson's injury wasn't ankle related, which puzzled a few reporters after the game. We'll see where he's at by Saturday morning. 

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