EDMONTON — Misery loves company.
Fans and media alike are joining in the misery that the Edmonton Oilers presently find themselves in. The 2-4-1 record doesn’t bode well for the team inhabiting Alberta’s Capital.
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But the sky isn’t falling yet.
Seven games into a young season, and the Oilers share the worst even-strength shooting percentage with the Nashville Predators, 4.4 percent. According to some research done by Elliotte Friedman, the worst even-strength shooting percentage since 2009-10 was 5.7 percent.
The Oilers will not finish the season with 4.4 percent shooting. In the last three years, they have completed the season with an 8.8, 9.1, and 8.4 shooting percentage outside of special teams.
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They have scored 14 goals in total this season. Ten at even strength (one of which was overtime), two on the powerplay, and two when either their net or their opponents’ net was empty.
The Oilers have the fourth-most shots in the NHL, with 187. If they were shooting at 8 percent instead of 4.4, they would have 15 even-strength goals. That would give them a total of 19 goals and likely one or two wins richer.
A 3-4-0 or 3-3-1 record is easier to stomach than their present position. What isn’t easy to stomach is the special teams’ performance.
The penalty kill is a coin flip with a 54.6 percent success rate. Their powerplay only converted on 10.5 percent of its chances. Luckily, they aren’t the only ones struggling to score with the man advantage.
Make no mistake about the small sample size skewing the numbers. Seven games is not enough to form a full picture. But this is what the team is going through for this stretch of games.
Staying patient has its benefits. Keeping your sanity chief among them.
The Oilers will right the ship, and when they do, everyone will talk about how great they are, and no one will remember the small seven-game stretch to begin the season.
No one will remember the Oilers having the 32nd-ranked penalty kill and 28th-ranked powerplay.
Until then, observers should approach things like the Oilers do, one game at a time. Besides, misery is bad company to keep.
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