{"id":943699,"date":"2026-10-23T21:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T21:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/943699\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T21:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T21:20:11","slug":"how-panthers-style-system-is-igniting-oilers-blazing-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/943699\/","title":{"rendered":"How Panthers-style system is igniting Oilers’ blazing start"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connor McDavid<\/a>\u2019s thermonuclear start to the season<\/a> has been the top story in Edmonton, and for good reason. At this rate, the Oilers captain will secure his 10th career 100-point season two and a half weeks before Christmas and break Wayne Gretzky\u2019s single-season record by a mere 45 points.<\/p>\n

But the Oilers\u2019 stylistic transformation under new coach Mike Babcock has also played a part in the team\u2019s 8-1-1 start. Specifically, Edmonton has ditched the run-and-gun approach and started dumping in pucks at a much higher clip, which in turn has improved its defensive play.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to limit turnovers, obviously,\u201d McDavid told reporters earlier this week. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about playing better defence, and part of that is being responsible with the puck and managing the puck. I think you\u2019re seeing that throughout the lineup, understanding when\u2019s the time to attack and when\u2019s the time to get on the forecheck. We want to be a heavy team. We want to forecheck pucks back. (We\u2019ve) done that at times. We\u2019ve gotten away from it at times, and we don\u2019t have success. We\u2019re trying to find the right formula.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the Oilers\u2019 first two seasons under previous coach Kris Knoblauch, they were one of the NHL\u2019s top defensive teams, finishing sixth and fifth, respectively, in expected goals against per game en route to back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances.<\/p>\n

Those defensive details slipped last season, however, as the Oilers fell to 19th in that category. Combined with goaltending that ranked 28th in total goals saved above expected, that ultimately cost the Oilers, who lost in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

A major issue for the Oilers last season was their transition defence. They had success generating odd-man rushes and offence off the rush, but so did their opponents. At five-on-five, Edmonton allowed the third-most rush scoring chances and fourth-most odd-man rushes per game.<\/p>\n

Babcock has pulled the reins on his high-octane team. The Oilers are dumping in the puck at a rate of 61.9 per cent, second highest in the league at five-on-five and way up from last season\u2019s 46.4 per cent (31st).<\/p>\n

As a result, Edmonton has shaved 43 seconds off the amount of time its opponents possess the puck in the offensive zone at five-on-five, putting less strain on goaltenders Devon Levi and Tristan Jarry. Opponents are also averaging around three fewer rush scoring chances per game. Overall, the Oilers have jumped up to fifth in expected goals against per game in all situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, (it) doesn\u2019t matter how good you are, you\u2019ve got to make the (defence) turn every time down the ice,\u201d Babcock told reporters. \u201cIf you\u2019re less skilled, sometimes you put in more often. If you\u2019re more skilled, you don\u2019t have to as much, but you\u2019ve still got to make the right play. They can\u2019t be leaving the zone with the puck because you made a hope play, so that\u2019s just our focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDavid, whose individual dump-in rate at five-on-five has risen from 14.6 per cent to 29.3 per cent this season, and fellow superstar Leon Draisaitl (24.3 per cent to 35.2 per cent) have bought into Babcock\u2019s plan. Although the Oilers\u2019 attack is not as breathtaking because of their more conservative approach, McDavid and Draisaitl are still getting their points. On Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes, McDavid and Draisaitl each recorded five points in the same game for the fourth time in their careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to play in the offensive zone, obviously,\u201d McDavid told reporters. \u201cThat\u2019s the point of the game \u2014 to spend more time in their zone and score more goals. Part of that\u2019s checking the puck back and finding different ways to get in the (offensive) zone. It\u2019s nice to carry it in every now and then, but teams are good. Neutral zones are tough. Guys are always above. When you\u2019ve got to put it in, you\u2019ve got to put it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edmonton\u2019s shift in style is reminiscent of when Paul Maurice took over as coach of the Florida Panthers in 2022-23. The Panthers won the Presidents\u2019 Trophy the previous season by leading the league in goals (4.11) and finishing second in rush scoring chances (7.35) per game, but the offence completely dried up in the playoffs. Maurice implemented a dump-and-chase style of play that paid off on both ends. Florida was a top-four defensive team by expected goals against per game in each of its Stanley Cup-winning seasons in 2024 and 2025. (The Panthers are the only team with a higher dump-in rate at five-on-five than the Oilers this season.)<\/p>\n

The Oilers would certainly welcome similar results.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the team\u2019s just playing well,\u201d McDavid told reporters. \u201cAnytime the team plays well, you\u2019re going to have guys have success. \u2026 It\u2019s not necessarily on the stat sheet for everybody, but everybody\u2019s playing really well, doing things detailed, structured, really hard, a lot of really good things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connor McDavid\u2019s thermonuclear start to the season has been the top story in Edmonton, and for good reason.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,82],"class_list":["post-943699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}