PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Senators

The Edmonton Oilers return to Rogers Place to begin a two-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Senators

EDMONTON, AB – The March to the playoffs and the Trade Deadline continue.

For the first time in a month since before the Olympic break, the Edmonton Oilers will play on home ice on Tuesday when they return to Rogers Place to host the Ottawa Senators to begin a two-game homestand.

The Oilers are looking to keep pace in a tight Pacific Division playoff race after dropping two out of three on their California road trip following the Olympic break, including an 8-1 thrashing of the Los Angeles Kings in between 6-5 and 5-4 defeats to the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks.

Despite scoring a combined 17 goals over the three games, the Oilers were defeated twice after their defensive mistakes culminated in two tough defeats in high-scoring affairs against the Ducks and Sharks, particularly on Saturday after they fed San Jose's transition game.

The goals continue to come for the Oilers, but their struggles to keep the puck out of their net at even strength and on the penalty kill remain a point of concern as they enter the stretch drive of the regular season.

"I don't think I put my finger on any one specific player area," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of his team's recent struggles defensively, "I think there's a little bit of everything. One thing I like since the break is that we have done better at defending off the rush. Going back to the end of January and those two games in February, I thought we were giving up a lot there, and that's been better. But whether or not it's in the defensive zone, it's just a lot of miscues."

"We have players around the net and we're protecting the slot. There was a lot of emphasis during the Olympic break when we came back and had those practices on protecting the slot a lot better than we were, and we've have been doing that, but sometimes we've got guys there and we still don't get the job done."

Edmonton currently finds itself four points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place, with Friday's Trade Deadline fast approaching for the team's final chance to load up for the final 21 games of their regular season and push for top spot in the Pacific.

Oilers General Manager & Exec. VP of Hockey Operations Stan Bowman was the first to make a move on Monday by bolstering his team's blueline with the acquisition of defenceman Connor Murphy from the Chicago Blackhawks (50 percent salary retained) for a 2028 second-round pick. 

The 32-year-old right-shot rearguard gives the Oilers another shutdown option who defends hard, is reliable in his own zone, and can play important minutes on the penalty kill after registering a team-high 177:17 PK TOI this season for Chicago's league-best penalty kill (85.7 percent).

The Oilers are currently 26th in both goals against per game (3.33) and penalty-kill percentage (76.9 percent), but beyond new additions like Murphy and changes to their defence and the penalty kill, the focus is on correcting recent struggles in their own end with the right mindset.

"I think right now we're talking about X's and O's and all that, and that's important," Mattias Ekholm said. "But I also think there's a mindset. You just have to try to get your head around defending, and you have to just bear down doing it. You can play whatever system you want, and you're never going to do it perfectly. It's just a guideline for you, and it's a tool to make everybody be on the same page.

"But at the end of the day, it comes down to how willing we are to defend and keep the puck out of our net."

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch did hint at changes to Edmonton's defence pairings during Monday's practice after running pairs of Jake Walman with Evan Bouchard, Darnell Nurse with Ty Emberson, and Mattias Ekholm with Spencer Stastney in a shake-up that will debut against the Senators.

It remains to be confirmed where Murphy could slot in and if he'll be available on Tuesday to make his Oilers debut.

"I'm not sure if the pairs have to be different, but we just know that we need more from some of the guys on the back end and up front, too," Knoblauch said. "But the changes that we make, we're trying to get some more out of guys . Ekholm and Bouchard are staples, and they're very good, but hopefully we can split them up and it can help elevate a couple of other guys."