Oilers Deliver Another Impressive Response After Disappointing Loss

I'd give quite a bit to know what goes on in the Edmonton Oilers' dressing room after a disappointing performance, because whatever they're doing to motivate themselves seems to be working pretty well.

Two nights after their first regulation loss of the season, the Oilers returned to Utah and handed the Mammoth a 6-2 loss, scoring five unanswered goals before the third period. Connor McDavid opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the game, finished with five points, and Edmonton improved to 6-1-1 through its first eight games.

Utah had just beaten Edmonton 4-2 on Thursday and was sitting near the top of the Western Conference standings, so  Saturday was a pretty impressive response.

Mike Babcock seemed pleased with what he saw, especially after spending much of Thursday's post-game availability discussing how heavily he'd relied on his top players.

“We came ready to play,” Babcock said. “(Utah) had just beaten us, we're in their building on a Saturday night, and anytime somebody beats you—anytime you're playing someone back to back—you've got to get to another level the next (night). We clearly did that.”

And he's right. Edmonton had a completely different look on Saturday, getting contributions throughout its lineup and giving Babcock an opportunity to reduce the workload on McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

McDavid played nearly 26 minutes in Thursday's loss, something Babcock admitted was unsustainable, but on Saturday he played only 19:52 and still recorded five points. He's now up to 23 points through eight games, the best start of his career, and has been on the ice for 19 goals for at even strength.

There aren't many players who can produce those kinds of numbers, although McDavid has made a pretty good habit of doing things that don't seem particularly reasonable.

“And isn't he plus-19?” Babcock asked afterward. “It's impossible to coach a team when your best player isn't driving, and this guy's driving. But he has a bunch of support. We've got a lot of workers, which is positive, and you're going to see our team really grow here as we get people back and get deeper.”

The additional support from Zach Hyman, Colton Dach and Jake Walman, all returning from injury, was noticeable on Saturday.

Hyman scored in his first game back, Dach played nearly 17 minutes and recorded four hits, and Walman returned to Edmonton's blue line. The Oilers have spent the opening weeks of the season dealing with several important absences, so getting three regulars back at once certainly helped.

However, the biggest difference was probably the contribution from Edmonton's bottom three lines, which had struggled to generate much offence against Utah on Thursday.

Mathieu Joseph scored on a breakaway, while Ike Howard, Filip Hallander and Trent Frederic all played well.

“I just think everybody's involved,” Hyman said. “I don't know what the minutes were tonight, but it felt like we were turning lines over pretty quickly, and all four lines contributed. When you do that, and you have everybody involved, it feels like a team win.”

It's an interesting comment considering how much pressure Edmonton's top line has been under lately. With Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matt Savoie unavailable, McDavid and Draisaitl have been responsible for an enormous amount of the team's offence, and Babcock has admitted that he's been playing them too much.

Last night showed what Edmonton can accomplish when the rest of the lineup gets involved, and having Hyman back should help considerably as the Oilers continue getting healthier.

There was also Trent Frederic, who apparently decided that Saturday would be a good opportunity to remind Jack McBain about his cross-check on Draisaitl during Thursday's game.

Frederic dropped the gloves with McBain in the first period, took a couple of early hits, finished the fight by throwing a few himself, and got the bench fired up.

“That's just a team guy stepping up,” Hyman said. “He's a warrior. I mean, he took a couple and then battled his way back in that fight, got his grip, and he's a tough guy, to say the least. I think everybody in the locker room values what he brings.”

“We never talked about it at all … with the players,” Babcock said. “But they all must have talked about it themselves, and looked out for things the way we should have. Freddy did a great job.”

Frederic has struggled to establish himself in Edmonton since arriving, so much so that people questioned what his role should look like under Babcock. He's now fought twice this season and is a version of the physical presence the Oilers have been hoping to get from him.

The Oilers are now the first team in franchise history to win their first five road games of a season, and their .813 points percentage ranks second in the NHL behind Carolina.

That's an excellent start for a team that has been learning to play differently while missing several important players, although what stands out to me is how Edmonton has responded when things haven't gone their way.

Thursday night wasn't terrible, but the Oilers struggled to generate offence outside their top line, gave up two power-play goals and allowed Utah to control too much of the game. 

Two nights later, they scored six goals, got contributions throughout the lineup and spent the night comfortably ahead of the same team that had just beaten them.

I'd be interested to know exactly what Babcock says after games like Thursday's, or whether McDavid and the rest of the leadership group have their own way of getting everyone ready to respond. Whatever the explanation, Edmonton has developed an impressive ability to come back from disappointing losses.

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