BLOG: Oilers up the pace at practice

EDMONTON, AB - Oilers Head Coach Todd McLellan felt his club was chasing the puck far too much Thursday against the Florida Panthers.
It started in the faceoff dot - where the squad finished the night at 37 percent - then leaked into other areas of their game.
"You have to have the puck to prevent goals and you have to have the puck to score goals," McLellan said Saturday following a high-tempo practice at Downtown Community Rink.
"We didn't have the puck very much in Florida and it started in the faceoff circle. We were a little loose there. We didn't compete at the level that I thought we could compete at."
Edmonton was outshot 33-27 in the game, racking up four penalties and five giveaways in the contest. They had plenty of chances at the net but Roberto Luongo was on point, stopping 26 of the 27 pucks he was faced with - many directed at his glove.
"It went from one foot to four feet to 10 feet," McLellan continued. "Pretty soon they've got the puck and we're chasing the whole night.
"Some of that was the defensive part of the game, some of it was the battles or the loose puck retrievals - body position around the net - so we came up with some drills today to accommodate what we think our needs are at this point."