Oilers' defensive deficiencies force Paul Coffey back behind bench

EDMONTON — You can make trades, rehire coaches, shuffle the deck chairs … Whatever.

If the Edmonton Oilers don’t figure out how to keep pucks out of their net, this will simply be one more season that falls short of the goal in The Big E.

“The biggest thing is, we score enough,” began beleaguered head coach Kris Knoblauch, who saw Oilers higher-ups throw Paul Coffey back into the pool this week. “Between our power play and five-on-five scoring, we are among, or maybe even the best in the league.

“I don't think we need to stress on how to score more. Defensively, we need to get better.”

The stats tell us that Edmonton is 25th in the NHL in goals allowed per game (3.29). That stat and playoff success go together like peanut butter and pickles.

But this is largely the same roster that advanced to the Stanley Cup Final the past two years. They’re clearly not playing at that level, but you can make the case that they’ve proven they know how to maintain a responsible, defensive posture that can win rounds in April and May.

Knoblauch is counting on his team bearing down as we hit the quarter pole of the season.

“Getting down to crunch time and knowing that we're in a win-now situation, I think will help our team kind of be more focused on the defensive play,” he said, hopefully.

To be fair, a team that hemorrhaged goals in the last two weeks before the break has actually accessed a much stronger defensive game at times this season:

In a rough first 26 games of the season, the Oilers ranked 30th in goals against per game, at 3.58. But over their next 25 games, they had the third-best mark in the NHL, at 2.56.

The penalty kill has been on the same roller-coaster, as it ranked 10th in the NHL through the Oilers' first 53 games (80.8 per cent). In their last five games, however, the Oilers’ PK has allowed nine goals on 14 attempts.

That leaky stretch saw Edmonton’s ranking drop from 10th to a tie for 25th overall.

In the end, as we enter the final quarter of the season and playoffs, good teams begin to master their defensive games.

“At this time of the year,” Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse warned, “it's tough to score your way out of your problems.”

Of course, a stout defensive game depends on all five skaters — and a goalie who gives you saves. The Oilers have too many players who have underperformed — the pairing of Nurse and Jake Walman on defence, to name two — and it’s crippled their team game.

“Individually, we’ve got to be better in that (defensive) department. As a team, collectively, we have to,” Nurse said. “The team game is just a collection of individual efforts.

“We all know the test, the challenge and the amount of work it's going to take to be able to bring that (goals against) down, and the commitment that it's going to take.”

If good defence starts in goal, Tristan Jarry knows the time has come to exert himself as the unquestioned No. 1 in Edmonton. He’s looking in the mirror here, regardless of what’s happening in front of him.

“Always. I always want to stop more pucks, and I think it starts with me,” he said. “Being able to stop more pucks and just be better, it'll benefit the team, it'll benefit everyone, and I think it'll help us in the long run.”

All of this will now fall under the purview of Coffey, who was reinserted onto this coaching staff during the Olympic break. He’ll be changing the defensive pairings and sitting in the coaches’ room when the Oilers return against the Ducks in Anaheim on Wednesday.

Coffey’s forte isn’t video and structure. Those responsibilities will be left up to assistant coach Mark Stuart, along with the penalty kill.

Coffey’s strength comes in settling Nurse’s game, getting the most out of Walman, and taking youngsters like Ty Emberson to the next level — wherever that level may be — like he did with Evan Bouchard.

“You’re bang-on there,” Walman said. “It's not too much X's and O's — he sees it all in his head. We don't do too much video or think about the past plays, but he knows the ebbs and flows of the game and what each guy needs. He's really good at kind of learning about the actual person and what they need.”

And, perhaps, a team that’s lost its swagger a touch over a tepid first 58 games could use a guy with four Stanley Cup rings in their midst.

“Yeah, there's obviously some value there that Coff brings to the table,” Walman said. “(We’re) searching a little bit for some answers, and when you look outside (of the dressing room), that's one of the things that was talked about being changed.

“I mean, it's Paul Coffey. Definitely a figure behind the bench a lot of people respect and look up to. He's got that aura when he walks in the room.”

An aura that must be found, if this season isn’t going to become a step backward for the Oilers.