EDMONTON, Alberta — The NHL’s reigning scoring champion got snuffed out by the Sharks team defense, producing a goose egg on the scoresheet and just one shot on goal.
Despite holding Connor McDavid in check, the Sharks surrendered five goals with Logan Couture sidelined by a concussion, allowing the Oilers second and third lines to rack up a combined 10 points.
Here’s what we learned Monday as the Oilers (15-17-2) closed the gap with the Sharks (17-11-4) in the Pacific Division to six points with a 5-3 win in Edmonton.
1. The Sharks lineup is as ‘thin’ as expected without Couture.
Head coach Pete DeBoer used the perfect word to describe the Sharks lineup without Couture: “thin”.
Couture’s absence produced a ripple effect throughout the Sharks lineup. It forced Tomas Hertl to move back to center and skate with a pair of wingers, Kevin Labanc and Mikkel Boedker, who are struggling to produce offense.
The line entered the game with a combined 13 goals, two fewer than Couture’s team-leading 15.
Hertl, whose delay of game penalty led to the Oilers first goal, acknowledged that he struggled in his return to center.
“Tough start. It was my mistake. I threw it away,” he said. “I have to be better right away from the start.”
The 24-year-old Czech produced a 43.48 percent possession rating and his line was also on the ice for the Oilers second goal with 1:09 left in the first.
DeBoer eventually demoted Boedker, who returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a lower-body injury, to the fourth line in the second.
The fourth line of Boedker, Danny O’Regan and Joel Ward magnified the impact of Couture’s absence, producing possession ratings of 25 percent, 26.67 percent and 33.33 percent.
“It’s thin. Other guys have got to get the job done,” DeBoer said, commenting on his team’s lineup without Couture.
“The fourth line got pinned in their own zone for extended periods to point that we couldn’t really play them, and then you overuse other guys. We’ve got to find a way.”
Captain Joe Pavelski also acknowledged that Couture’s absence was noticeable.
“He’s a tough guy to replace, no doubt about it,” the Sharks captain said. “He takes a line and drives it when he’s out there. Special teams, all that stuff that he does. It’s tough to replace.”
2. The defense is starting to show some cracks.
Over the first two months of the season, the Sharks ranked among the NHL’s bottom five in nearly every offensive stat category, getting the job done with a stingy-team defense.
Now, the Sharks are finally getting some offense, tallying 22 goals over their last six games. But the defense is starting to show some cracks.
With five goals against Monday, the NHL’s second-ranked defense has now surrendered four or more goals six times in their last eight games, producing a goals-against average of 3.63 over that span.
Goalie Martin Jones has given up at least four goals in six-consecutive starts.
DeBoer said the porousness of the Sharks defense this month is a reflection of his team’s recent tendency to fall behind early. The Sharks have trailed in the first period in six of their last seven games.
“You’re getting behind in games and you open it up,” the Sharks coach said. “It obviously creates more offense, but you obviously give up some more, too. That’s probably the biggest thing.”
3. The Sharks fumble an opportunity to bury the Oilers.
The Sharks started their three-game swing through Western Canada with the goal of creating some separation between themselves and the teams below them in the Pacific Division standings.
They fumbled an opportunity to stretch their lead over the team that eliminated them from the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring to 10 points Monday.
The Oilers have been the league’s biggest disappointment to date, entering Monday’s game ranked 14 out of 15 teams in the Western Conference after reaching Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs last spring.
But after stringing together six-quality games in a row, and earning back-to-back wins for just the third time Monday, the Oil Can is suddenly six points behind the Sharks for third place in the Pacific Division with two games remaining before the Christmas break.
Watch out.
“Next time we get an opportunity like this, we’ve got to make it count,” Pavelski said.
