There might be an inclination to suggest that it’s early in the season and that there are a lot of penalties being handed down around the league but here are some numbers to chew on:
The Oilers have been hit with 26 minors in four games, which puts them 23rd in the NHL. The Philadelphia Flyers are last with 33 through five games; the Winnipeg Jets, the least guilty of the parties, head into their next game with 10 through four games.
The good news? The penalty kill, which has allowed four power play goals, is ranked ninth. The Calgary Flames, 4-3 victors Saturday at the Saddledome, scored one of their markers with the man advantage. They had six opportunities.
“It’s getting back to where you can put your stick, where you can’t. What are you going to get away with and what can’t you get away with,” said Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
“But we do need to take less penalties because it’s just more time in our own end. It slows down the game and you can’t get four lines rolling that way.”
Head coach Ralph Krueger said his specific concern in Calgary was that of the seven penalties that the Oilers were forced to kill, four were in the second period.
“All offensive kind of penalties,” he said. “Sometimes when you get behind, you want things too much then you are maybe over aggressive in the wrong scenarios.”
jireland@edmontonjournal.com
Twitter.com/jirelandEJ
