If you’ve been waiting for a signal that at long last the Edmonton Oilers are ready to do some damage in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, I do believe one is shining forth brightly just now.
In the last ten games, the Oilers have won six games and tied one, doing so on the back of OK-to-good goaltending, solid play from the bottom pairing d-men and Bottom 6 forwards, and, most of all, a level of defensive commitment and execution almost never seen from this Oilers team this year.
Playoff defence spotted
I measure the team in 10-game segments. In this most recent segment, games 71 to 80, Edmonton gave up just 11.5 Grade A shots per game.
That’s damn good number, the kind that gives hope Edmonton has at long last found it’s defensive mojo this year — and just in time for the playoffs.
By comparison, in the 20 game segment from Game 41 to Game 60, Edmonton gave up 20.4 Grade A shots per game. In the last segment, Games 61-to-70, Edmonton gave up 14.0 per game, about it’s seasonal average, which simply isn’t good enough if this team hopes to win a playoff round or four.
Overall, Edmonton’s Grade A shots for percentage of 59.6% was also excellent in this segment.
I’ve been hoping to see this kind of improvement on defence for months now so I’m thrilled by the change. If the Oilers can make defensive execution their playoff calling card, they’ve got enough scoring for a deep playoff run.
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McDavid leads defensive charge
Best of all, Edmonton’s defensive charge in these past ten games has been led by team captain Connor McDavid. McDavid has had some weak segments on defence, characterized by mental errors in coverage, often with him rushing over to try to take away the puck from players who are already covered off by a teammate, thus leaving McDavid’s own check open to take a pass.
There’s been little of that from McDavid lately, as he and his teammates have worked hard to cut down on the puck-watching, cut down on straying from position and instead hold their spot in coach Kris Knoblauch’s zone defence.
This can be seen in McDavid defensive metrics. For the first time this year, he’s making less than one major mistake on a Grade A shot against per game in this segment.
Here are McDavid’s numbers for each of the eight 10-game segments to date when it comes to major mistakes on Grade A shots against at even strength:
G1-10, 1.07 mistakes per 15 minutes
G11-20, 1.6 per 15
G21-30, 1.99 per 15
G31-40, 1.3 per 15
G41-50, 1.47 per 15
G51-60, 1.89 per 15
G61-70, 1.6 per 15.
G71-80, 0.95 per 15
More good news
Another bit of good news is that many of Edmonton’s d-men just enjoyed their best 10-game segment of the entire year, with Jake Walman and Ty Emberson on the third-pairing playing leading the way in terms of improvement, and Connor Murphy providing a stabilizing influence on the second pairing.
players
At the Cult of Hockey
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