Edmonton Oilers veteran Adam Henrique shows his frustration in new interview as the team continues to struggle
The Oilers are having another poor start this year, and Adam Henrique is showing his frustrations in his latest interview, acknowledging the team needs to be better.
The penalty kill of the Edmonton Oilers has been a shadow of its former self this season, reliable during the last season in which they went on their playoff run. In a recent 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday night, though there was much creativity on the ice with more scoring opportunities for one team, it reflected on the lamentable situations of the Oilers. It just seemed like the Oilers couldn't find the net on those opportunities as New Jersey's 'D' and goaltending proved to be too much for them to handle.
Through most of this game, Edmonton hung in there within a goal or less. Down one, the Oilers took a too-many-men penalty at an especially poor time midway through the second period; which flipped momentum, which otherwise stayed on even terms for much of the contest. In other seasons, the Oilers probably would shrug off these sorts of setbacks; on this night, it seemed to hang heavy on the team. There was frustration around that felt like the turning point the Oilers weren't able to recover from. Adam Henrique was definitely venting post-game.
The Devils took quick advantage of Edmonton's mishap, as Jesper Bratt somehow found himself all alone in the slot, slipping a shot past Oilers' goalie Calvin Pickard. The goal seemed to take any hope and drive from Edmonton, and any rally attempts became increasingly hopeless. This is a worrisome departure from the determined Oilers that fans watched in the playoffs.
There are a lot of things that have gone wrong for the Oilers, but perhaps no single aspect of their game has fallen off more than Edmonton's penalty kill. Last season, they finished in the top half of the league in penalty-kill percentage; this season, they rank dead last with an abysmal 60% kill rate. Assistant coach Brad Stuart runs the penalty kill and worked magic last season, but as of yet this year, the magic eludes him. Head Coach Kris Knoblauch remains upbeat and doesn't press that panic button, knowing full well his team can find that spark to light up the season.
The Oilers stand at a crossroad point in their season with a mediocre record of 6-6-1. As confident as Kris Knoblauch is in his group finding their footing on the kill again, it is time that they simply do not have. If this Oilers team does not tighten up the screws soon, they may once again find themselves in a hole they will struggle to climb out of, similar to last year's edition. For now, they will need to dig deep and find some of that grind and defensive acumen that made them once so playoff-threatening.
