Oilers Fall 4-2 to Flyers

The Oilers turned in a pretty lackluster performance, in front of a home crowd tonight, at Rogers Place. The 4-2 loss (with an empty netter), really doesn’t do their uninspired performance justice.

The Oilers only managed 16 shots through two periods, and 25 overall, despite Philadelphia going into lead-protect mode for the majority of the final frame. The Flyers had 26 shots through two frames, and finished the night with 33.

What’s bugging Corey Right Now?

I’m resolving to not pine for offensive talent that is no longer with the team in my post games following an uninspiring offensive performance. I feel my thoughts on that subject are well-established, and I’m trying not the beat a dead horse.

So what else is bugging me about the Oilers right now?

Well, it’s their penalty differential, of course.

The Oilers’ penalty differential has been a problem all season, coming into this game ranked 30th in the league, with a -23 in that area. They took four penalties tonight, compared to only two drawn, which brings their season differential to -25.

At this pace, the Oilers will finish the season with a -73 penalty differential. For reference, the team with the league’s worst penalty differential was Arizona, who were only -34.

The 2016-17 iteration of the Oilers, meanwhile, finished the season with a +24 penalty differential, which as the 4th best mark in the league.

This needs to change if this team wants to win a half-decent number of games down the stretch.

Game Puck

McDavid and Draisaitl can split it. Neither had special night’s by their standards, but they combined for a pretty goal in the second. They’re magic on 2 on 1s, and I don’t recall anything else that was legitimately worth getting excited about tonight. Good for Nuge for getting on the scoresheet with a late goal that brought the team within one, but at that point, it seemed pretty clear that the Oilers didn’t have it in them to mount a comeback tonight.