Oil Spills: Tuesday Links - On The Road In Dallas

About the Oilers

Todd McLellan believes his Edmonton Oilers will start scoring soon - Jonathan Willis -- Cult of Hockey
With the Edmonton Oilers credited with just a single goal through two games, and even that one shot off an opponent’s stick, it’s understandable that offence has become a focus for the team. Head coach Todd McLellan isn’t worried, though.

Mark Letestu, Matt Hendricks a tenacious pairing on Edmonton Oilers’ fourth line - Joanne Ireland -- Edmonton Journal
The synergy between steadfast veterans Matt Hendricks and Mark Letestu seemed to take very little time to develop. Or maybe it’s like Letestu explained: that it was bound to happen because they were joined at the hip when the Edmonton Oilers training camp opened.

Edmonton Oilers visit baseball and football stadiums in Dallas Rob Tychkowski -- Edmonton Sun
The sports stars became sports fans for a day as the Edmonton Oilers took in a Dallas double-header Sunday. A day off on the road just happened to coincide with a Dallas Cowboys home game against the New England Patriots, followed by a Texas Rangers home game against the Toronto Blue Jays just down the street.

The Revolving Door Next to Eric Gryba - Jonathan Willis -- OilersNation
One of the big storylines through training camp was head coach Todd McLellan’s decision to run NHL-style lines immediately. The thinking went that this would allow the Oilers’ players to gel as units and allow the coaches to get a firm read on what they could expect from lines and pairings. With that in mind, it’s interesting that the signals sent out on Monday indicate the Griffin Reinhart will be scratched for the second consecutive game and that Eric Gryba will get his third defence partner in as many nights.

Feeling Blue - Matt Henderson -- OilersNation
The opening weekend in the NHL is over, and most teams have a couple of games in the books already. The Oil have picked up two losses but I’m not overly concerned just yet. There are some positives to take away from the matches, but when I look at the club what I see is a group of defenders trying to get comfortable with change.

The Edmonton Oilers are no longer a small hockey team - Jonathan Willis -- Cult of Hockey
For years, there have been concerns that the Edmonton Oilers are simply too small to win in the tough Western Conference. It’s been debatable whether or not size has really been one of the roots of the team’s problems, but what isn’t debatable is that it’s yesterday’s argument. After a busy offseason, the Oilers are now bigger than the average NHL team.

Oilers reboot with focus on scoring goals - Ryan Rishaug -- TSN
Todd McLellan's practice plan Monday in Dallas was singularly focused; scoring goals. Two losses into the season the Oilers have only scored one, an own goal by St. Louis. Needless to say the offensive confidence isn't exactly thriving. McLellan ran drill after drill in the offensive zone trying to create scoring opportunities for his forwards. He admitted after the skate he did not anticipate before the season that goal scoring would be this high on his list of problems.

What should we expect from Connor McDavid's rookie year? -- NHLNumbers.com
13 different players have recorded their first career NHL goal so far this season, and Connor McDavid isn’t one of them. Should we all panic? No we shouldn’t. Many people had the expectation that McDavid, who tore up Major Junior at a borderline unfair level over the past couple years, would jump into his professional career and continue putting the puck in the back of the net at will. Through his first two career games that hasn’t happened, and it’s okay.

Around the NHL

One new NHL rule will make keeping players fresh a big challenge -- New York Post
You can say goodbye to the timeout in hockey for the first 59 minutes of regulation, because what coach is going to lose the right to exercise a challenge because he called one to rest weary players following an icing?

Emerging Hockey Stats Community Meet for RITHAC -- Today's Slapshot
On Saturday, October 10th, some of hockey’s best statistical thinkers gathered in Rochester, New York to share their current research. And, as John Matisz put it in an interview with TSN, for many writers from the blogosphere, these conferences are a chance to put a real face to the Twitter handles they’ve engaged in discussion with online, 140 characters at a time. With topics ranging from player evaluation, Corsi talk, the salary cap, injuries and wellness, manual tracking, nationalities, and more, there was something at this conference for every fan. Here, I’ll try to break down a few of the key takeaways.