Weekes STL EDM  plusses minuses

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his thoughts for big games each week throughout the season.

The St. Louis Blues (30-26-2) play the second game of a back-to-back when they visit the Edmonton Oilers (34-20-2) at Rogers Place on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, TNT, MAX).

Here's my breakdown of the game.

Oilers

Pluses: Connor McDavid enters the game on a 10-game goal drought but has 23 assists in that span and has rocketed up the NHL scoring list to third (91 points; 21 goals, 70 assists) behind Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (103 points; 38 goals, 65 assists) and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (98 points; 35 goals, 63 assists). During the Oilers' recent 16-game winning streak, McDavid and center Leon Draisaitl mentioned to me the improved defense as a reason for the turnaround. That has slipped a little bit of late, but is still better than it was to start the season. Forward Zach Hyman is leading Edmonton in goals with a League career-high 38 and is on pace for more than 50. Defenseman Evan Bouchard has 56 points (15 goals, 41 assists) in 56 games, and when you add forward Evander Kane and center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, that gives the Oilers a handful of players who can make an impact on any given night.

Minuses: Since the aforementioned winning streak, the Oilers have gone 5-5-1, allowing 4.00 goals per game (30th in the NHL during that span) and going 64.7 percent on the penalty kill (31st). They need to fix that, and the quicker the better as a lengthy losing streak could bump them to the wrong side of the playoff line. We know they can score, but they'd rather not have to score five or six any night to win. They need to prove they can win the low-scoring games, too.

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected

      NHL EDGE explores Hyman's goal-scoring abilities

      Blues

      Pluses: St. Louis is playing with a faster tempo recently, which better suits its game. Defenseman Justin Faulk returned in a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday after missing 12 games because of a lower-body injury; he's a big part of their offense. Forward Pavel Buchnevich scored Tuesday and has five goals in four games and forward Jake Neighbours has had a breakout season with 19 goals in 58 games. For the most part, the Blues do it by committee when it comes to scoring, with seven double-digit scorers. Also, the goalies have been very good this season but haven't been getting much credit; Jordan Binnington has a 2.93 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and three shutouts in 41 games (39 starts), and Joel Hofer has a 2.88 GAA, .911 save percentage and one shutout in 22 games (19 starts).

      Minuses: They needed a bounceback effort Wednesday after the loss to the Jets and a poor performance in a 6-1 loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. They're 1-4-0 in their past five games and have lost ground in the Western Conference wild-card race. Special teams need to improve; St. Louis ranks 24th in the NHL on the power play (17.4 percent) and 16th on the penalty kill (79.5 percent). The Blues need to make sure they get out in front early; they're 22-1-0 when leading after two periods, but 3-22-0 when trailing after two.