BLOG: Oilers press on with their process at Tuesday's practice

EDMONTON, AB - "We want to bridge the gap or close the gap to the best teams in the National Hockey League," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said at Rogers Place following Tuesday's practice.
"In order for our team and our group this year to do that, there are some things that have to get done."
The Edmonton Oilers held their morning meeting on Tuesday before taking to the ice for practice as they continue to hammer away at their process in preparation for the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the remaining 11 games of their regular-season schedule.
"We're trying to finish as high as we can, we're trying to gain as many points as we can, but probably most importantly... we want to make sure our game is in the right place," he added. "We want to make sure that we're using these last 11 dress rehearsals in the right manner so that we're ready when Game 83 hits.
"We're not going to be perfect, but we hope to capture learning moments and improve and get better so that we are ready for Game 83."
Tuesday was a maintenance day for the likes of Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse, but included a hard 30-minute, competition-focused skate for the rest of the roster under the lead of assistant coaches Glen Gulutzan, Dave Manson and Mark Stuart before Wednesday's visit to Rogers Place from the surging Arizona Coyotes, who've won four straight and are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.

Including their two most-recent victories over the Seattle Kraken and the San Jose Sharks, 10 of their final 13 games this regular season are the against Pacific Division teams.
"I think it's understanding where you are in the schedule, so schedule management or fatigue management are things I think you take the temperature of in your group on a daily basis," Woodcroft said. "For me, we're trying to make good decisions in the short term but also for the long term, so we talk about it. We have a lot of experts on the medical side, a lot of experts on the strength and conditioning side and we use every resource at our availability."
The Oilers are coming off a 5-4 overtime victory over the Sharks on Monday where Mattias Ekholm delivered late-game heroics to force overtime before Nurse found the back of the net with 15 seconds remaining to secure Edmonton the extra point on his franchise-leading fourth OT goal from a defenceman.
Coach Woodcroft credited his players post-game and again Tuesday afternoon for finding a way to take the two points, but mentioned how his team isn't going to sweep their problems during their narrow victory over the Western Conference's bottom-dwellers under the rug.

"I thought it was a great sign that we found a way to win the game yesterday," Woodcroft said. "I'll start with that. That's a credit to our players, but there are areas of improvement for our team going forward.
"We're aware of them. We talk about them constantly. We've shown periods of time where we've been really good at them. But in the end, talk is cheap. We've got to do it on an every-day, every-game basis, and there are certainly moments where we can do better."
Beginning the process of improving for Woodcroft begins with acknowledging how well they've played over 10 games during the month of March (8-2-0), while also dating their success back over their last 29 games that's returned a 19-5-5 record.
The Oilers are doing their part keeping pace with the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights and the Los Angeles Kings, who've matched or exceeded Edmonton's output with respective 8-2-0 and 8-0-2 stretches in recent games.
"I would say that the first thing is that you acknowledge that going 8-2-0 is not an easy feat, so it's a credit to our players," Woodcroft said. "You don't have that record unless you've done some things very well, so that's a credit, but we're walking through this thing with our eyes open. We tell eachother the truth.
"We have areas of our game that have to continue to get better, areas of our game that we have to continue to grow and areas of our game that we have to maintain. That's what we do on a daily basis whether we're in March, which we are now, or in November. What you've got to do is continually make sure that you're doing your work, that you're seeing things clearly and that you address things head-on."
View all of the day's written & video content below:
WRITTEN

VIDEO
- Access Insurance Save Of The Week - PRACTICE | Friendly Competition - RAW | Jay Woodcroft - Nick Bjugstad](https://www.nhl.com/oilers/video/raw--bjugstad-032123/t-277437406/c-16098273) - RAW | Mattias Janmark