Game day - The undefeated Caps visit the Oil

This is a game that will help see where the young Oil stand against the top team in the NHL.

Some quick observations from early this season.  Not too stats orientated, as it is too early to get a complete picture, and until the Oilers play a significant amount of games on the road they are going to be skewed.

Unbalanced scoring/unbalanced schedule


The Oilers are getting 50% of their scoring from the Kid line, obviously if the Oilers want to be successful especially on the road, they will need more secondary scoring.  Look to the Oilers to struggle to score goals     on the road.

Paajarvi


He needs to be more productive, when I look at the forward movement stats, it is not that he is awful or leaking chances, but he is not creating much either.  He has great speed and strength but more often than not you see him cut to the outside, get into the zone and take a weak shot.  He needs to continue to drive to the net to create havoc or, stop, turn and look for the trailer or the other Oiler forward that may be going to the net.

At the moment he is playing over Omark because he doesn't leak as many chances but I don't see Renney's patience being infinite.

Potter

I keep on thinking the magic will wear off, and he will come down to earth but he is just so smart defensively and makes few mistakes.  He makes the subtle smart plays, like not following the player behind the net when he is unsure of coverage in front.  Instead he will stop at the net, watch the player behind the net, turn his head and make sure that there is no other player left unguarded and then stay in front of the net, leaving the person behind the net no play.

In my opinion, he is too smart of a player to have a real regression at this point.

Khabibulin


I heard the whispers, the comments from people that are familiar and know his motis operandi.  When he feels challenged he will play his best hockey, he needs to feel competition.  I ignored it and thought that it was a slam dunk that Dubnyk would run away with the starting job.   Perhaps fatigue will set in and he will come back to earth but either way, it looks like goaltending will not be the issue most of us thought it would be.

Next few games the true test

The Oilers have a significant number of road games coming up, by the end of that span we will have a better idea of where the Oilers stand.

My early impression though as the lack of depth in scoring will be a problem.