BLOG: Oilers to be challenged by Hurricanes' strong lineup, tactics & home record

RALEIGH, NC – 88-22-12.

The home record for the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena since 2020-21 might look daunting, but it’s the challenge of rising to the occasion for the Edmonton Oilers that the coaches and players are looking forward to on Wednesday evening.

“Yeah, they're a great team. They have been for many years,” netminder Stuart Skinner said. “They’ve just got a solid squad from top to bottom, so hearing that is like hearing a challenge. 

“It's a big opportunity for us to come out here, and how many losses do they have? 22? Well, it's a chance to make it 23, so it's a very good opportunity for us to get a win for ourselves against a very good team.”

The Oilers have now lost two straight games to begin their four-game Eastern Conference road trip after beginning the Kris Knoblauch era behind the bench with two wins in a row on home ice, and the Blue & Orange are keen to come up with a huge win in a place where many teams – including themselves last season with a 7-2 defeat to the Canes – couldn’t get the job done.

“I feel like the last couple of years, this building has probably been one of the tougher buildings to play in, especially with the way they play,” Mattias Janmark, who’s set to return to the lineup tonight, said pre-game. “So there’s no better challenge for us than them today, and to work on our game and against this team, you really have to limit your mistakes because they're always around the puck.

“If you turn the puck over, they're going to make you pay, so it's a really good challenge for us.”

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch knows all too well the ability of the Hurricanes from his time behind the bench as an assistant coach from 2017-19 with the Philadelphia Flyers – a Metropolitan Division rival of the Broad Street outfit.

The now-Oilers head coach is expecting a similar hard-to-play-against style that’s been championed by the Canes under Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour for his well-rounded team that boasts four strong lines and offensive weapons like Sebastian Aho, who has multiple points in eight of his last nine meetings against the Oilers and boasts the most points per game versus Edmonton (2.33) out of any NHL player since Jan. 1, 2018.

“I don't think they've changed at all,” Knoblauch said. “Obviously they have made changes, but their identity has stayed the same, so I look at their depth whether it's lines one through four and they play very responsible hockey, check very well, the defence moves the puck up well and aren't afraid to get in the rush.

“I think there's a lot of challenges for us, but I think we need a good challenge right now.”

Edmonton will get another crack at facing a club using the ‘man-to-man’ style of defending after they faced a similar system in Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers.

Knoblauch, who’s a fan of ‘zone’ defending and has implemented that approach since arriving in Oil Country, wants to see his players reduce the number of slot shots and high-danger scoring chances against – the latter of which the Oilers lost 13-8 to the Panthers on Monday as per Natural Stat Trick.

For the bench boss, that begins with the proper rush defence when possession is turned over in the offensive zone.

“Absolutely. You cannot be giving up those quality scoring chances, and obviously, Calvin played very well,” Knoblauch said. “You look at the amount of goals against he gave up and you’d think it wasn't a very good game, but the work that he had, it was unfair for him to be put in that situation. We need a better job protecting the house.

“A lot of it is not so much on our defensive structure. There are definitely things that can be better there on our defensive D-zone structure, but it's mostly on our line rush against coming in and coming back a little bit quicker and defencemen being able to close plays at the blue line so they're not getting the rush. Also important is our forwards stopping in the house, protecting the dangerous ice and not flying by. 

“I think our defensive zone system, there are some things that could be better, but I think a lot of it has to do with how we're playing the rush.”