Tempers boiled over in their 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, but is that a bad thing?
The Edmonton Oilers fell a little further back from a playoff position last night. It was a heated affair despite there only being 30 penalty minutes handed out amongst the players. In the end, they lost to the Vancouver Canucks by a 6-2 score.
The Oilers reached a breaking point in this game. It probably happened in the first period when the Canucks scored three goals on eight shots. They came out in a good way but then the Canucks would score goals seemingly at will.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid losing their cool right now is a good thing. Let them vent all of that frustration and disappointment from the first 11 games of the season. Let them get it out of their system so they can play without distractions in their next game.
Most of the talk has been about the defensive aspects of the game - most of those arguments are valid. One thing I have seen lost in this discussion surrounding the Oilers is the mental game. So much of playing in the NHL is going with your instincts and not thinking too much.
If the Oilers can focus on playing, and not thinking about specific systems or their place in the standings then they can get themselves out of his mess they are in. They have a clean slate mentally now and can move on to their next game - Thursday night against the (presently) win-less San Jose Sharks.
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