BLOG: Oilers look to take advantage of teams coming off bye

The Oilers have two more games until their bye week begins -- Friday in Arizona and Saturday in Vegas. Both of those games, they will be facing a team coming off their bye.
Last season, teams coming off the bye week had a record of 8-14-4 when playing a team that was not coming off a bye week of their own. The team coming off a bye can't practice until the late afternoon the day before their first game. Arizona skated at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Oilers head coach Todd McLellan wasn't too concerned with the Coyotes ability to shake off the rust and play.
"They'll get their opportunity to practice today. I think about us coming off our bye week in a week. We'll get a practice in. I think the players are worn down a bit at this time of the year so that break gives them a chance to re-energize both mentally and physically but with that sometimes comes rust," McLellan began.
"Every team will respond differently. Usually, your top-end or go-to guys if they seem to be sharp and energetic, they can pull some others along. I can't speak for what Arizona and Las Vegas will go through or how they'll feel or anything like that but really it doesn't matter to us. We have to prepare our game."
Mark Letestu was asked if the team talks about their opponents either coming off a bye or heading into their bye week as was the case when the Oilers played Dallas and Nashville.
"You mention it amongst the group. There's a tendency to forget about it once you're out there and you're just playing the team in front of you," Letestu said. "I know that the first one back from the break can be challenging at times, you have a little bit of rust with one skate. Five days off might not seem like a lot but the rhythm of your game goes away and you have to find it quickly.
"In our situation, we've got two here now before the break and there's a tendency to want to empty the tank. You have nothing to save it for so you want to give your best effort so the five days are enjoyable."