Last week, I looked into how the Edmonton Oilers were doing when it came to generating rebounds, and found that overall, the team is doing better compared to previous seasons. It likely has to do with McLellan’s tactics as he and his coaching staff have preached about the importance of shot volume and attacking the blue paint since October.

What’s also become critical for the Oilers to generate scoring chances is getting the initial shot on goal from the defence, something that the OIlers have been struggling with since the start of the season. As of today, the Oilers have 27.6% of their shot attempts blocked at 5v5, one of the worst percentages in the league, ranking them 27th overall. This is definitely something the Oilers’ coaching staff is aware of and was even pressing when it came to Justin Schultz’s performance back in December.

The one area we continue to emphasize with Justin is the willingness to continue to shoot the puck. The ability to hit the net when you do shoot the puck. And letting him know that, and encouraging him that, when you do shoot that creates offence for everybody. Even if that first shot doesn’t get in, if it gets through, that’s what leads to the second chance or third chance. But it’s vital that that shot gets through from the top. – Assistant Coach Jay Woodcroft on Inside Sports (Source)

Lately, I had been noticing that Andej Sekera’s shots in particular were getting blocked more often than his teammates, but figured it was because he was on the ice so often and taking plenty of shots to make up for it. When I came across a few tweets from fellow bloggers, I thought it would be worth looking into.

Full article is at The Copper & Blue.