The Edmonton Oilers have won seven of their past 10 games, continue to hold down a playoff spot and occupy second place in the NHL’s Pacific Division, but head coach Kris Knoblauch continues to emphasize the importance of the hockey club fine-tuning its game as the post-season inches closer and closer.
The Oilers will host the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Place on Tuesday night. The team’s last game was a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the impressive Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, a matchup that many hockey commentators suggested was a good test for the Oilers as they head toward the post-season with heightened expectations of success from fans.
After practice at Rogers Place on Monday, Knoblauch spoke to reporters about the overtime loss to the Avalanche and suggested he was pleased with his team’s play overall, even if things sometimes “just didn’t materialize” on offence.
“We didn’t have as much time in the offensive zone, just because I don’t think we broke the puck out as well,” he explained. “(Colorado) had a lot of hard forechecks … discipline in their systems.”
Knoblauch added that he thought the Oilers’ “defensive zone coverage could still be a little tighter,” but said since taking over as the team’s coach earlier this season, he’s pleased to see his club’s improved defence, crediting defencemen with taking fewer risky “pinches” that result in odd-man rushes, noting the forwards are backchecking with more urgency, and applauding the goaltenders’ play.
Knoblauch was asked on Monday about Oilers players who do not play every game. The team acquired more depth players ahead of the NHL trade deadline earlier this month as it sought reinforcements for the playoffs.
“We don’t want a guy sitting for a month,” Knoblauch acknowledged. “We will have a bit of a rotation.
“Who knows when in the post-season we’re going to need these guys, and it would be really unfair and unrealistic to think, ‘Oh, now they can play and now they can perform and play well,’ if they haven’t played a game for weeks.”
However, the coach also suggested he is trying to balance that approach with trying to put the best roster on the ice for every game.
“We are trying to win as many games as possible,” Knoblauch said. “(But) we have to think about when to get those guys in.”
The Oilers (40-21-4) and the Canadiens (25-31-11) are set to face off for Tuesday night’s game at 7 p.m. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED.
Oilers defenceman Vincent Desharnais, who hails from Quebec, said he has fond memories of watching Canadiens games on TV with his family in his childhood home. He said he always looks forward to playing against the Montreal club colloquially known as the Habs.
“To have them come here and play us, it’s going to be lots of fun,” he said.
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