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As was the case during their dynasty years, the Edmonton Oilers are once again known as an offensive powerhouse. Back in the day, there was a Big Five that looked after the lion’s share of the scoring, namely forwards Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and rushing rearguard Paul Coffey. That quintet could be counted on to light the lamp on a consistent basis, though from time to time the club would get some key contributions from the supporting cast.
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There are a few superficial similarities between the make-up of those powerhouse squads of yore and the Edmonton Oilers of the here and now. Not least, that there is a core group of 5 players — again 4 forwards, 1 defenceman — who deliver a large percentage of the mail.
These days that core offensive crew is readily identifiable as the first powerplay unit. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard currently form the best PP in the game Because of that powerplay connection let’s call them the Power 5, even as all 5 also rack up plenty of goals and points at even strength.. For this post we will consider their output in goals alone, in all situations.
Our background data set starts in 2021-22, when Hyman arrived via free agency and Bouchard made the club as a full-time player. In the three seasons since, the Oilers have been the top offensive club in the league; their 902 regular season goals and 184 playoff tallies both rank first in raw totals, while their near-identical per-game averages of 3.67 and 3.68 rank first and second respectively.
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Through it all, the Power 5 has done its share and then some of the heavy offensive lifting.
In each season and each playoff season, we see that the Power 5 delivered over half of the club’s goals. That crested at well over 60% in 2022-23 when the powerplay reached peak performance. It was a bit more balanced in 2021-22, when mid-season signing Evander Kane had a hot roll in the second half and in the playoffs while RNH had a down year on the goal-scoring front and Bouchard was finding his way.
In the season just past and the playoffs ongoing, the Power 5 has seen its production drop a tad though still in the range of 2 goals per game, all season long. The supporting cast, meanwhile, continued to deliver about 1.5 goals per game, led in-season by Kane (24 goals) and Warren Foegele (20) along with defenders Mattias Ekholm (11) and Darnell Nurse (10). The production of each came almost entirely at even strength, as indeed does almost all of the club’s support scoring.
What we see in the above broad brush look is that scoring distribution between the two identified groups has not changed a whole lot between season and postseason, be it parsed by goals per game, percentage of team goals, etc. Except… it sure has changed in the Stanley Cup Finals.
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Let’s slice the playoff results a little thinner, on a series by series basis.
Goal production through the first three rounds was very similar to last year’s playoffs, with the Power 5 outscoring their combined teammates by very nearly 2 goals to 1. Come the Finals, though, that ratio has changed dramatically: literally, 2 goals to 10!
Tiny sample size alert, obviously, but worth noting all the same. Through 3 games the Power 5 hadn’t scored a single goal, a major factor in the Oilers dropping all 3 of those games. All the offence, such as it was, had come from depth scorers: Ekholm, Foegele, Philip Broberg, Ryan McLeod. 4 goals in 3 games, about their usual rate.
Finally in Game 4, the big guys broke through. McDavid scored at even strength, RNH connected on the powerplay, and there were the 2 goals Oilers fans have come to expect from the quintet.
But while the big names were finally getting on the board, the supporting cast was filling their boots. Mattias Janmark opened the scoring, shorthanded. Adam Henrique doubled the lead. After Florida scored, Dylan Holloway restored the 2-goal lead with a spectacular tally (featured up top). Later in the game Nurse hit the twine, then Holloway scored again, then McLeod rounded out the scoring in what became an 8-1 blowout by the home squad.
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This unlikely quartet produced half of Edmonton’s goals in their 8-goal outburst in Game 4.
It’s not as if they were scoring garbage goals, either. Remarkably, 7 of Edmonton’s 8 markers were scored on the rush, the lone exception being RNH’s rebound goal on a rare, 2-minute 5-on-3 powerplay.
No fewer than 5 were cashed on shots of 8 feet or less, as Oilers from top to bottom of the line-up took themselves and the puck to the blue paint where they made life difficult for first Sergei Bobrovsky, then backup (and former Oiler) Anthony Stolarz.
Holloway scored a pair of brilliant goals, even as primary playmakers, respectively Draisaitl and McDavid, should get their share of the credit. The youngest Oiler is emerging in real time, his 5 even-strength goals in the postseason ranking behind only Hyman and ahead of all of McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins. His distribution has been a bit wonky: 2 goals in each of Games 2 and 22, only 1 in between, but the emergence of his high-energy game has been plain to see. With no role on either special team or at 4v4, the emerging fan favourite many refer to as “Hollywood” is making the most of his 5v5 minutes, close to 12 per game.
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Most of those minutes have been in a top 6 role, primarily with Draisaitl and Kane. Coach Kris Knoblauch recently gave him a one-game “reset” on the fourth line before pushing him right back into the top 6. That’s not dissimilar from his treatment of various other more veteran players who have been shuffled right out of the line-up from time to time only to be given another chance on a new line or pairing.
Foegele for example was in the press box as recently as last series. Now he finds himself on McDavid’s line.
Then there’s Henrique, added at the deadline for his versatility and experience. He’s show both, be it at 1LW or 3C where he is currently deployed with fellow vets Janmark and Connor Brown on an outstanding checking line with a side hustle of penalty killing duties.
Knoblauch has been pushing many of the right buttons throughout his tenure, and that hasn’t changed in the playoffs. They haven’t all paid off, but a significant number have. In the process, a variety of players from youngsters Broberg and Holloway to elder statesmen Corey Perry and Derek Ryan and backup goaltender Calvin Pickard have gotten their minutes and had their moments.
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What does it mean?
At this moment, just that the Oilers are still alive in the series after facing down the horrible prospect of a sweep. For all of the joy produced by Saturday’s flurry of goals, only a single game was won, and the squad remains behind the eight-ball.
But in the process they’ve reached the point where every player in the rotation is getting his chance, and then another one. It’s been clear for most of this wild ride that the entire group has bought in.
So far they’ve faced elimination three times and won each. No reason to expect anything less than another monumental effort as the team faces the same scenario in its return to the Panthers’ den.
With the likes of Connor McDavid constantly dealing with what we’ll call “heavy checking”, it has been incumbent on some of Edmonton’s lesser lights to shine.
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