Edmonton Oilers growing into a consistent, well-rounded team that expects to win

Along with their point total and league-wide respect for their new look, the Oilers are growing.

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Into something. And, just as important, out of something.

They are becoming a more consistent, well-rounded unit, as shown again Wednesday at home in an impressive 4-1 win over the highly regarded Washington Capitals. They are also out-living a reputation, established over a decade of hockey without playoffs, for rolling over and accepting failure as if it were a key ingredient in the perennial rebuild that only now appears to be bearing tasty fruit.

They are starting to look like a team that expects to win, rather than fearing the reverse. What’s more, they are prepared tactically and physically to work hard and smart enough to ensure that they do win.

They’re 6-1. But they’re 6-1. If you know what I mean.

“Obviously it’s a good start, and that’s all it is right now,” said Connor McDavid. “We’re doing good things and hope to keep that going, but the race isn’t to seven games. There’s a long way to go.”

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If they were a one-trick pony, that marathon would be too taxing. But they are winning with depth and the National Hockey League is taking notice.

“We’ve won in a bunch of different ways,” said McDavid. “You look at the first two games, we were outscoring the team. You look at our later games, we checked the other team and won playing good defence and scoring timely goals. Those are all good signs. And if you’re going to be a good team, you have to find different ways to win and we’ve done that.”

It wasn’t the McDavid line that did the damage early on Wednesday, rather Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Benoit Pouliot, who combined on the first two Oiler goals and topped that up by shutting down Alex Ovechkin and friends for all but one shift.

“Last year or the year before that, all the focus was on (Nugent-Hopkins) and he was the guy you had to really play well to stop,” said Caps’ defenceman Karl Alzner. “When they can spread that out the way they do now, it’s kind of like a Pittsburgh, your focus needs to be spread out. They’ve got a lot of good players. They can be dangerous.”

The Oilers’ forwards used to be dangerous in both ends of the rink. Not so much anymore. They’re willing to battle and have the size to do it, and the urgency in their game is paying dividends.

“I think the structure is what’s really noticeable,” said Alzner. “They’re playing more aggressive, they’re playing rushes earlier and smarter, they’re battling really, really hard.”

After Ovechkin made it 2-1 just nine seconds into the third period — and skeptics were clearing their throats — McDavid engineered a goal by Patrick Maroon off the rush and the two-goal edge was restored. No panic. No deflation on the bench, Maroon said. No ‘Here we go again.’

“We get swagger like that and start stringing some wins together, guys start playing with confidence, guys start playing good. Our goaltender has been strong, our defence has been strong, the puck just starts going,” said Maroon. “Obviously we know there are going to be tough times this season. Every team goes through it. But now we’ve got to continue it and learn to keep playing the right way.”

Different ways. In Winnipeg, an unlikely trio of scorers — Mark Letestu, Zack Kassian and Darnell Nurse — got the job done on offence and goalie Cam Talbot slammed the door in a 3-0 win. On Friday in Vancouver and on Sunday at home against Ottawa, it may well be somebody else, such is the depth they have built.

The big picture is forming and it’s impressive as all get-out. It’s the best start since 1985-86, when they won five straight to start the year, were 8-1 at the end of October and 16-4-3 at the end of November. This team is still just seven results into an 82-game grind.

But the sample size will eventually be large enough to confirm their true nature. Give them the month of November to firmly establish the new normal if you will. That gives them 24 games total, slightly more than a quarter of the season. It also splits nicely into 11 home games and 13 on the road. Whether contender or pretender, it should be obvious. Though the jury is leaning, the verdict isn’t in yet.

Head coach Todd McLellan, who has a great sense of who they are, told reporters after the Heritage Classic in Winnipeg last Sunday that they have plenty of growing to do.

“Do we make mistakes? Of course we do. And when we do we seem to have a goaltender who makes some pretty good saves, which is nice to have.

“But we’re a growth team. I wouldn’t consider us a championship team or anything like that right now. We’re still a growth team.

“We’re learning how to do things. We’re learning how to do it individually and collectively. I think players this year I find have accepted roles a little bit more. They kind of know when their time is going to be.”

Sooner than later? Perhaps.

Edmonton Journal