Oilers all business heading into season opener against Devils

GOTHENBURG, Sweden -- If you looked at the ice alone Thursday, you wouldn't have known if the Edmonton Oilers were practicing in Gothenburg or Pittsburgh.

"I don't know if you guys saw it, but I think as players we all felt it," forward Milan Lucic said. "I think we pushed the pace even more in practice … to get our game where we want it to be so it's ready to go."

The Oilers' preseason ended when they defeated the Kolner Haie 4-3 in overtime at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, on Wednesday as part of the 2018 NHL Global Series Challenge.
Their regular season begins when they play the New Jersey Devils at Scandinavium on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, MSG+, NHL.TV) as part of the 2018 Global Series.
"We had a blast in Germany, but there were no points on the line," forward Tobias Rieder said. "And now it's business. It counts now."
Each team in the NHL wants a good start. The Oilers seem to need one, though.

In 2016-17, they started 7-1-0. That made it easier to weather stretches like a five-game losing streak in November. They finished second in the Pacific Division with 103 points and made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons.
Last season, they started 1-4-0. By Nov. 21, they were 7-12-2.
"We had such a bad start," center Connor McDavid said. "We put ourselves behind the eight ball."
The Oilers went 10-5-0 in their next 15 games. When they left for Christmas break, they were still in the playoff race. But after they returned, they went 1-7-1 in their next nine and ended up sixth in the Pacific with 78 points.
"We've tried not to bring up last year as much as we can or even the year before, but if you look at the two seasons … the 7-1-0 start kept us in it," Lucic said. "It's just a mental thing to keep you confident. … I think that's where the having a good start comes to play more than anything."
McDavid, who said the Oilers have "just got to be sick of losing" at the NHL Player Media Tour in Chicago on Sept. 6, started elevating the intensity and trying to change the mindset in informal workouts.
"The pace was higher than I've ever seen," said forward Kyle Brodziak, who signed a two-year contract with the Oilers as a free agent on July 1. "You could tell there was a level of desperation and determination to make sure we're ready to go when it counts."
This trip has been about preparing for not just the regular-season opener Saturday, but also for everything that will come after it. The Oilers visit the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11, the New York Rangers on Oct. 13 and the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 16. Their home opener isn't until Oct. 18 against the Bruins.

The Oilers used the Cologne leg of this trip to adjust to the travel physically and get into a good place mentally as a team. They arrived Sunday morning, enjoyed the afternoon and had a team meal in the evening. They practiced Monday, then went on a team tour led by center Leon Draisaitl, a Cologne native. They took Tuesday off.
In Edmonton the day before departure, coach Todd McLellan said: "We told the players that we want them to enjoy this trip. We want them to find ways away from the rink to come together as a team, to discuss any issues we might have, how we want to play and those types of things. Call it team-building, if you will."
McLellan added this: "The best team-building we can do on this trip is win games."
The Oilers won in Cologne. Now comes Gothenburg.
McLellan ended practice with a 3-on-2 battle drill on Thursday -- two players taking on three teammates at center ice, with the goals pushed to the edges of the face-off circle. The drill helps with hands, quickness and body position. But it's a mental thing too.
"It's just one of those things to train your brain," Lucic said. "It's worked for his team in the past, and it's just one of those things we're trying to instill in everyone here, to be able to think when they're tired when the real games start here."
The Oilers are scheduled to practice again Friday. They have scheduled no official sightseeing excursions in Gothenburg.
"You don't want to be playing catch-up," Brodziak said. "That's too exhausting and too taxing when you're playing catch-up, and sometimes you never feel like you could catch up. I think this group's pretty focused on making sure we have a good start. We want to build off good feelings. Starting the right way is very important for us."