Oilers focus on themselves as they start homestand with game vs. Capitals

March 12, 2024 Canuck

They’re returning from a road trip in which they earned nine of a possible 12 points to help them keep a firm hold on a playoff spot, but Edmonton Oilers personnel say they’re trying to keep their focus on the present.

The National Hockey League squad sits second in the Pacific Division, four points ahead of the third-place Los Angeles Kings with a game in hand.

Edmonton went 4-1-1 on its eastern road swing, including Sunday’s 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and has 19 regular-season games left on its slate.

But while they have some breathing room as they prepare to host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday (8 p.m.) to start a four-game home stand, Oilers star Connor McDavid said, while acknowledging the term’s banality, he and his teammates are taking things “day to day” — and not ignoring their horrific start to the season that saw them troll the bottom of the NHL standings before stampeding through the league on a 16-game win streak over a month and a half.

“At the beginning of the year, there was lots of expectation and guys got a bit lost in that a little bit — and you saw the start that we had — so I think for us, it’s just about the day to day,” the captain told media following practice on Tuesday at Rogers Place.

“I know it’s super cliche, but for us, we’ve just got to stay day-to-day, focus on what we’ve got to do, play good hockey and that stuff will follow.”

Fellow Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also referenced ‘focus’ when he spoke to reporters, but conceded the advantages of holding a higher spot in the standings, which sees Edmonton sit 10 points behind the division-leading Vancouver Canucks albeit with Edmonton having played three fewer games.

“Most of the time, you’re just focused on the day-to-day and kind of who you’re playing next, but being higher in the standings will give you some advantage in the playoffs,” said Nugent-Hopkins, who’s scored 16 goals and 56 points in 62 games played to sit fifth in team scoring.

“The matchups once you get to the playoffs … everybody is competitive and the parity in the league is high. You don’t really say, ‘OK, this year we’re playing them, blah, blah, blah,’ but I think it’s good to have home ice. I think it’s something that we can strive for, and just give us a little more motivation.”

Head coach Kris Knoblauch said he’s not putting an emphasis on standings placement, just “winning as many games as possible.”

“There are so many things out of our control — we don’t know what Vancouver is going to do, we don’t know how they’re going to finish the season, how many wins they’re going to (get), but we have a pretty good idea how many games we can win,” Knoblauch told media.

“If we win as many as we think we can, it gives us an opportunity that possibly that’s an opportunity for us, but I think right now we’re just focused on how we’re going to play better hockey (and) win more games.”

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