3 gains from the Edmonton Oilers defeating the Islanders in 2-1 overtime – Hockey Writer – Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are looking to play the victory post against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Friday night (March 14). The Oilers have been falling and desperately need to win to win to finish second with the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs with the Los Angeles Kings and second in the Pacific Division and Home-Ice advantage. They won a much-needed victory with a 2-1 overtime victory. These are three gains from this low-scoring event.

Leon Draisaitl continues to rule

Where would the Oiler be without Leon Draisaitl? He was once again the best striker on the ice and continued to drag the team into the battle. He was filled with ice and had some glorious opportunities in the first phase. The German superstar is a man on a mission and will not be denied. Eventually, he broke the insignificant tie in the second stage and hit a blow from the torn distance. He then won the game in terms of disconnected obstacles.

Related: Leon Draisaitl scores two goals in the Oilers’ victory over Islanders 2-1

Draisaitl has 49 goals this season and runs away in the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy game. He scored 13 more goals than second place, which is incredible. He also recorded the 100th point of the season, joining Nathan Mackinnon as the only two players to reach the plateau so far. Most importantly, he expanded his score to 17 games of his career and tied the Boston Bruins’ David Pastrnak to the longest game of the season.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch praised Draisaitl during the post-match oppression. “He has always been a good player, he has always been the ruler and one of the best forwards every night. I’ve seen him step up further and he hasn’t stood out yet.” Draisaitl is on another level right now and it’s fun to watch.

The fine of the oil man is perfect

A strong fine can help build confidence when things are not going their way. The Islanders ranked the worst in the game at just 11.7%, while Edmonton took advantage. The Oilers were a perfect 3-3 in free throw kills, with almost a brief goal in the first phase, but Connor Brown’s breakthrough was rejected. It’s been difficult to achieve goals lately, so the last thing they need is to give up on one’s strengths and chase the game. The usual penalty killers suffer from bad offensive seasons, so if people like Brown, Vasily Podkorzin and Matthias Jamak want to stay in the roster, they need to step up their efforts on defense and kill for successful free throws. Just like they did throughout the playoffs last season, teams can also fall behind strong free throws, which could take you far. Edmonton will currently rank 23rd free throw kills at 76.1%. They still need improvements, depending on the attention to details and goalkeepers. This brings us to the final harvest.

Calvin Pickard is great

The Oilers participated in this game, and they lost seven of their last 10 games. During that time, goalkeepers have been an important topic for all the reasons for mistakes. So Calvin Pickard needs a high-quality start and delivery in New York. He is not as busy as Ilya Sorokin on the other end, but there are very few Edmonton Netminders. The traveler goalkeeper crossed the clutch and stopped 24 shots from 25 shots, glittering .960 percent savings (SV%). He also performed well in overtime, thus helping Draisaitl win goals.

Pickard recently beat Stuart Skinner to score an average of 2.67 in 25 games this season, with an average of 0.898 SV%. That’s a question, who should start next? On March 1, Pickard performed well against the Carolina Hurricanes, stopping 35 in 36 shots for an incredible .972 SV%. As a result, he won back-to-back for the first time since last season. Unfortunately, he ignited the game in the following game, allowing four goals out of 11 goals for the Anaheim Ducks, thus starting the goalkeeper change in stage two. The 32-year-old Netminder was not used to playing continuously, so coach Knoblauch made a difficult decision.

The Oilers will hope to build on that victory when they make their four-game trip against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night (March 16).