BLOG: Oilers pick up the pace for Monday's practice

EDMONTON, AB - The intensity at Oilers practice ramped up on Monday as the team looks to find its early-game legs.
Coming off back-to-back disappointing starts to open the season in games against the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, there was an emphasis on offensive-zone cycling and working through traffic as the Oilers skated during practice at Rogers Place.
"I thought it was good today," centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "After a day off especially, I (liked) the way that we all went out there and battled today. Just quick battles, so it's nothing too taxing, but it's obviously getting into people and getting hard in front of our net and in front of the opposing team's net. I think that's going to be a theme starting now for us, and we got to get harder in those areas. So today, we worked on it and I think we should get better from it."
"I think we can practice better," Connor McDavid, who was named the NHL's second star of the week, said. "I think game habits start in practice and I didn't think our practices had been very good, so today it was a step in the right direction in terms of that."

In both of Edmonton's opening games, they've spotted the visitors a three-goal lead to open the contest. The Oilers managed to overcome the deficit on opening night against the Canucks, but were only able to claw back to within a goal against their Sourthern Alberta rivals.
"It doesn't take much of an expert to realize that we have to better in the first five, 10, and 20 minutes of the games," McDavid said. "You can't be spotting teams three-goal leads, so we've got to find a way to get off to a better start. It starts individually and obviously expands out to the whole group."
The slow starts have kept the Oilers from really playing the type of game they would like to establish early in the season. As it stands, four of the Oilers seven goals have come on the man advantage, with another coming shorthanded. The early deficits have forced Head Coach Jay Woodcroft's hand during the game to shuffle the lines, typically with the uniting of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same line.
"Being down kind of affects everything -- it affects how the games play and how much guys play," McDavid said. "So obviously, we'd love to play with the lead. You're never really going to win a game in the first 10 minutes, but you can certainly put yourself in a bad spot in the first 10 minutes."

One way the Oilers hope to combat the poor beginnings they've had to games is in their offensive-zone play. The work done in today's practice focused on sustaining zone time and keeping the play away from their own end, because at the end of the day, an opponent who doesn't have the puck can't score on you.
"I think there's more substance to be had in the offensive zone. I also think that's a good form of checking and it doesn't get enough credit for when you possess the puck in the offensive zone and you grind a team down," Woodcroft said.
"What you're doing is you're not allowing them to counter attack you because they're probably spending most of their shift in their own end, which means they flip it out and then they change. It allows you to get right back on top of them. So I think we can be a little bit more substantive in the offensive zone."
The lines at Monday's practice were as follows:
Forwards:
Kane - McDavid - Yamamoto
Hyman - Draisaitl - Puljujarvi
Holloway - RNH - Foegele
Shore - McLeod - Ryan
Defence
Nurse - Ceci
Kulak - Barrie
Murray - Bouchard
Goalies
Skinner
Campbell
Stuart Skinner was working in the starter's net before Woodcroft confirmed that the 23-year-old will make his first start of the season against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. The goaltender came into the game on Saturday in relief of starter Jack Campbell and turned aside all 31 Flames shots he faced.
"I thought there was a maturity and a mental toughness to Stuart. I thought he went right into the game and he made some big saves," Woodcroft said. "He gave us a chance to win that game, even though it wasn't a perfect game for us. We did have some good moments as well, but he gave us a chance to get back involved and make a game of it."
Laver in the evening, defenceman Markus Niemelainen was recalled from the Bakersfield Condors while centre Brad Malone was loaned to the club's AHL affiliate.

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