The Edmonton Oilers have greatly improved their position in the National Hockey League standings in recent weeks, but not because of what is usually offensive bread-and-butter for them: the power play, which is missing key catalyst Leon Draisaitl. The star centre who’s amassed 35 goals and 97 points this season has missed nine games since getting injured on March 15 against the Nashville Predators. In that time, the Oilers’ power play has scored just twice in 21 chances, or 9.5 per cent, the second-lowest rate in the NHL over that time span. The Oilers, however, still have the league’s best power play, which has produced goals at a 29.7-per-cent rate through 77 games this season, and have won six of the nine games after losing Draisaitl. Edmonton is tied with the Anaheim Ducks atop the Pacific Division with five regular-season games remaining but hasn’t secured a playoff berth. And while it’s evident they’re missing the services of Draisaitl, who’s expected to miss the rest of the regular season and perhaps some playoff time, the Oilers have been “generating a lot of chances” with the man advantage, head coach Kris Knoblauch said Tuesday after his team’s morning skate before their 7:30 p.m. game against the host Utah Mammoth. It’s “the finishing” that’s been missing, he told media. “As much as we want to be generating opportunities, the most important thing is putting the puck in the back of the net,” Knoblauch said. “I think we are a little bit due, but we’ve got to stick with it, and maybe we have to simplify a little more.” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a fixture on the Oilers’ top power-play unit who has scored 10 of his 18 goals this season with the man advantage, echoes his coach in emphasizing the absence of Draisaitl as a major factor in the drop-off in power-play goals but adds he and his teammates need to find ways to capitalize on their opportunities. “(Draisaitl) always finds ways to score and create those really high chance plays, but we’ve had a lot of good looks,” Nugent-Hopkins told reporters. “We’ve got to find ways to bear down and maybe get some more second opportunities and can play off that, but we’re not going to get frustrated. We’re just going to stick with it and keep shooting pucks, and eventually, they’ll start going in.” Crude remarks Projected Oilers lineup Forward Defence Goal
