PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Islanders

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch will begin his tenure behind the bench on Monday night when the Edmonton Oilers host the New York Islanders at Rogers Place.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 6:30 PM MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin 30 minutes before puck drop, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Islanders

EDMONTON, AB – When the puck drops between the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders on Monday night at Rogers Place, the Kris Knoblauch era behind the bench will begin in Oil Country.

The Oilers made significant changes to their coaching staff on Sunday morning by relieving Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson from their duties and announcing Kris Knoblauch as the club's next head coach, along with Paul Coffey being named an assistant coach.

"It's an unbelievable opportunity. It's been a crazy 24 hours for me," Knoblauch said during Sunday's press conference. "I was on the bench yesterday in Hartford and then on a plane to get here. To be able to coach the Edmonton Oilers – with such a strong hockey culture, history and passionate fans – to be here as a head coach is a little bit of a dream for me," he said.

A product of Imperial, Sask., Knoblauch spent the majority of his playing career in Edmonton, suiting up for the WHL's Edmonton Ice from 1996-98 before later spending five years with the University of Alberta Golden Bears from 1999 to 2004. Knoblauch served as the head coach of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack for the past five seasons after spending two years in Philadelphia as an assistant coach under current Seattle Kraken coach Dave Hakstol.

The 45-year-old won two junior titles behind the bench in the WHL and OHL with the Kootenay Ice and Erie Otters – the latter of which came in 2016-17 while coaching current Oilers forward Warren Foegele and NHLers Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Taylor & Darren Raddysh and Anthony Cirelli. Knoblauch coached Connor McDavid for all three of his years in Erie from 2012-15, including winger Connor Brown who was the Otters' captain for McDavid's first two seasons.

The coaching change made by Oilers CEO of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson and General Manager & President of Hockey Operations Ken Holland comes with the club owning a 3-9-1 record and the NHL's third-worst goals against per game (3.92) that's been elevated by a league-low combined save percentage (.864) and too many goals against coming off defensive mistakes.

Offensively, the Oilers have been able to pile on the shots this season (34.2 average shots/game – t-2nd in NHL) but haven't been able to convert at a consistent rate with only 35 goals through 13 games – the fifth-lowest total in the League. Connor McDavid is currently on a goalless streak of eight games with 10 points (2G, 8A) in 11 contests this year after having 24 points (12 G, 12 A) through his first 11 games in 2022-23.

Along with his former exceptional-status junior forward turned NHL superstar, Knoblauch hopes to help ease the tension in the Oilers locker room from a slow start to their season and begin building relationships to figure out how to get the most out of his new players – a process that began in earnest on Sunday after his hiring and will continue Monday morning at the team's pre-game skate before they host the Islanders.

“Right now, I want Connor and everyone just to take a breath, relax, play hockey and find some joy in it and play the way they can," Knoblauch said. "Because right now, I just think there's too much pressure on them and they're feeling it.

"I think I need to get some more information from these guys and then I need to get to know my players. Hopefully, I can start tonight with some phone calls, but tomorrow when I meet with them, try and meet as many as possible and start building some relationships.

"I'm sure they'll share their frustration. I'm sure a few of them will be hesitant about was this coaching change necessary. Some are going to be very excited about it, but I think in my career as a coach, I've done a pretty good job of connecting with my players, giving them an identity and working on them to become better players."

"Tomorrow is going to be a big step. The first step."

The Oilers are coming off a strong showing against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night that saw Zach Hyman record a natural hat trick in a 4-1 victory that snapped a four-game losing streak for the club. The 31-year-old became the eighth player in Oilers history to score three goals in the first period and just the second since Wayne Gretzky on Dec. 17, 1986 to record a natural hat trick in the opening frame.

The winger scored all three of his markers in the danger area around Seattle's net and now leads Edmonton in goals with seven this season, with his 13 points (7G, 6A) sitting second on the team behind Leon Draisaitl's 13 (5G, 10A).

Stuart Skinner provided the necessary 18 saves in goal, including two vital stops on Yanni Gourde in the first period and Adam Larsson in the third after the Kraken got on the board which played a huge role in the context of how the game unfolded in Edmonton's favour.

"One comes to mind is that I think it was 4-1, and there's a pass backside off of the face-off and he's able to get his blocker on it," Hyman said. "That's a save that keeps it 4-1 rather than 4-2, and then they're pushing. I just think that was a huge save."

"I think it was a pretty low event game after that [first period]. I don't think there were many Grade-A's both ways I think. Kind of locked it down from there, and Stu made the saves that he needed to make some big ones there. I just think it was the first time we played a full 60 and just really controlled the game from the start."

The Oilers will try and adjust to their new coach in Knoblauch quickly to keep their winning ways going on home ice versus an Islanders team that's lost four straight games after earning points in seven of their first nine contests.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Leon Draisaitl (7G, 6A, 13GP) & Connor McDavid (4G, 11A, 13GP) have both averaged at least a point per game vs. the Islanders in their careers.
• The Islanders have struggled to find the back of the net, scoring two or fewer goals in six of their 13 games and scoring three or fewer goals in 11 of their 13 games.
• The Islanders have not lost in regulation this season when scoring first, going 5-0-3 (.813). The Oilers have only picked up seven of a possible 16 points in games they scored first.
• The Islanders and Oilers are 2 of 4 teams in the NHL without a win when trailing first this season (both 0-5-0).
• Noah Dobson leads the Islanders with 12 points through 13 games (4G, 8A). He joins Travis Sanheim (PHI) as the only defencemen in the NHL who are the sole point leaders on their teams.
• Horvat has 27 points in 38 career games vs. the Oilers (11G, 16A), and six points in his last four games vs. them (2G, 4A).
• Brock Nelson has scored 79 goals since the start of 2021-22, by far the most on the Islanders. He has scored 15.7 percent of all Islanders goals in that time, which is the 11th-highest percentage of team goals scored in the NHL.

GAMEDAY ESSENTIALS

VIDEO

• Coaching Change Press Conference
• Access Insurance Goal Of The Game
• OILERS TODAY | Post-Game at SEA
• HIGHLIGHTS | EDM 4, SEA 1
• POST-RAW | Stuart Skinner
• POST-RAW | Zach Hyman
• POST-RAW | Dylan Holloway

WRITTEN

• GENE'S BLOG: New Kid on the Knoblauch
• TALKING POINTS: Knoblauch introduced as Oilers head coach
• RELEASE: Oilers relieve Woodcroft & Manson, hire Knoblauch
• POST-GAME: Hyman having a hot start
• GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Kraken 1