With that being said, one area that the Oilers are severely struggling with is the penalty kill. Currently ranked at 31st in the NHL, the Oilers have one of the worst PK units in the league.
At 16:42 of the 2nd period, New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt notched his 3rd goal of the season on the power play. Although the Oilers PK has been under some heavy fan scrutiny, Oilers forward Adam Henrique singled himself out, taking full responsibility for the play.
In 13 games this season, the Oilers have given up at least one power-play goal in nine of them. That's not going to cut it, especially later in the season.
During the 2024 post season, the Edmonton Oilers had a historic penalty kill unit. In a unfathomable statistic, the Edmonton Oilers averaged a penalty-kill percentage of 94.3 during the postseason - a huge reason for their glorious Stanley Cup run.
But now, for whatever reason, the Edmonton Oilers can't seem to get a grip on their penalty kill. According to the Hockey News, the Oilers' penalty kill continues to struggle and it's an absolute momentum killer.
Although the Edmonton Oilers decisively outshot the New Jersey Devils last night, the team continues to overpass, opting out on shooting the puck on opportune moments.
Although Adam Henrique took full responsibly for the power play goal last night, it's clear the Oilers PK as a collective needs a long hard look in the mirror. Hopefully the team can tighten things up when the Oilers take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
POLL | ||
Do you think the Oilers PK will improve? | ||
Yes | 61 | 83.6 % |
No | 12 | 16.4 % |
List of polls |