“Hesitant” and “indecisive” are two words Edmonton Oilers players and coaches have used to describe the team’s play through the first 10 games of the season.
They’ll be trying to work those problems out of their game Wednesday night when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Rogers Place.
“When you use those words, you probably combine them with confidence. Confidence comes from doing things the right way, doing it right all the time. Then you naturally are making those decisions quicker and you’re reacting to them quicker,” head coach Todd McLellan said.
“Reading and reacting off your teammates is also important. On-ice communication takes away some of the indecisiveness. There are a number of things which can make individuals indecisive which collectively sometimes makes the team indecisive.”
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The Oilers sit at 3-6-1 to start the season. They’ve yet to win back-to-back games and are coming off a 5-2 loss to Washington on Saturday.
“I think part of it is confidence and part of it is just playing loose. I think some of us are gripping the stick too hard,” defenceman Matt Benning said. “I think we need to focus on playing our individual game and just play loose.”
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The Oilers’ expected lineup is:
Maroon – McDavid – Draisaitl
Lucic – Nugent-Hopkins – Yamamoto
Caggiula – Strome – Slepyshev
Jokinen – Letestu – Kassian
Nurse – Larsson
Klefbom – Benning
Russell – Gryba
Talbot
Former Edmonton Oil King Tristan Jarry will be Pittsburgh’s backup goalie.
Catch the Oilers and Penguins on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 5 p.m. The game starts at 6:30 p.m.
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