After a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh Sunday, I interviewed Penguins forward Chris Kunitz. Kunitz scored a couple of goals but it was his first that set the stage for the win. It came after Edmonton couldn't score on a 5-on-3 advantage.
Kunitz said that was the turning point in the game. For some reason, a light went off in my head and it made me think about how lousy the Oilers' special teams have been this season.
The formula often used by head coaches is the 100 per cent special teams total. Add your penalty kill percentage to your power play percentage and hope that it totals 100.
Coming into Sunday's game, the Oilers were killing off penalties at a 77.2 per cent clip and were scoring at a 13.1 per cent ratio. That adds up to 90.3 per cent. To give you a little perspective, the top percentage combination in the league is Vancouver, whose total is a whopping 111.
That gives you a glimpse into the cold, hard reality of what it takes to be one of the top teams in the NHL. Edmonton's power play, which ranks 30th in the league, deserves some leniency with all their key injuries but their 28th-ranked penalty kill continues to struggle and isn't getting any better. It's too late to worry about numbers now but for the off-season, the Oilers will need to place a heavy emphasis on fixing their lacklustre special teams.
