Edmonton's method of rebuilding is producing better results than the quick fix in Toronto.
Score one for the draft.
The Edmonton Oilers’ stunning 5-0 win in Toronto over the Maple Leafs on Thursday was indeed a victory for one rebuilding program over another -- for doing it right over trying to do it quick.
And it is certain many of the Leafs fans who booed their sluggish team off the ice at the end of the second period and even more vociferously again at the game's conclusion must have been thinking as they watched the Oilers top draft picks score goals, 'That could be us.'
Of course, it won't be.
Unlike the Oilers who bottomed out the past few years and were rewarded with high draft picks from which to build around, Toronto GM Brian Burke went for the quick fix, trading away two first-round picks and a second-round pick to get Phil Kessel. Burke has stubbornly said time and time again he'd make the same deal again -- what else would he say? -- but after watching the Oilers young guns burn his club Thursday night, you have to think deep down he'd love to have a do-over.
From an Edmonton point of view, it has been an interesting couple of weeks. It was only a week ago veteran coach Tom Renney read the riot act, ripping his players for being unprepared to play and sacrifice. On the surface, Renney appeared to be as flustered, but in truth he knows there will be growing pains and he was really just issuing a wakeup call. The message apparently was received.
In a swing through Eastern Canada, the Oilers humbled Ottawa 4-1, showed great comeback power in beating Montreal 4-3 in overtime and 24 hours later embarrassed the Leafs.
Toronto actually held a territorial edge in play and out-shot the Oilers 12-4 in the first period and 11-8 in the second. But a goal by Jordan Eberle, Edmonton's first pick in 2008, 3:10 into the game gave the Oilers all the offence they would need on this night. Then Taylor Hall, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, added some insurance with his seventh and eighth goals of the year. Sam Gagner, the Oilers’ first pick in 2007, added to the lead. All in all, it was a big night for the Oilers scouting department.
Toronto, meanwhile, has slipped to 28th overall and in doing so has put the Boston Bruins, which own the Leafs’ first-round draft choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, back into a lottery pick position. It marked the sixth time in 24 games this season the Leafs have been shutout. Barely past the first quarter mark of the season and it's already beginning to look like another write-off in Toronto.
Both of these teams will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs, but fans in Edmonton can at least see light at the end of the tunnel. Fans in Toronto just see more of the same old, same old and that was never more evident than Thursday night.
SID HOT, OVIE NOT
Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby is the NHL's hottest player, riding a 14-game points streak during which he has scored 15 goals for 29 points. He has two hat tricks in his last three games including all three of his team's goals in a 3-2 victory over Atlanta on Thursday.
Washington's Alexander Ovechkin, meanwhile, has gone somewhat cold of late. Even though he still ranks third in NHL scoring, Ovechkin hasn't scored a goal in his last nine games. It is worth noting Steven Stamkos, who remains tied with Crosby for the goal lead in the NHL with 21, also hasn't scored in his last four outings.
SENS STALLED
You have to wonder how long Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray can remain patient with his group? The Senators, who sit 10th in the Eastern Conference, have dropped two straight and are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games and have scored just six goals in their last five games.
It's not that the Senators don't have good personnel; on the contrary. However, too many of the players the team counts on for success are underachieving. Daniel Alfredsson leads Ottawa in scoring, but he is minus-7. Alex Kovalev has, sadly, been what Alex Kovalev has been the past few years, which is to say going through the motions. He has seven goals and 14 points in 26 games and is minus-6. Defenceman Sergei Gonchar is a team-worst minus-13 and has not provided the club with a spark on the power play as hoped when the Senators signed him as a free agent. Two kids who were supposed to take the next step in their careers, Peter Regin and Nick Foligno, each have just one goal in 26 games.
There is immense pressure for this team to do well so don't expect Murray to sit idle for much longer.
