My first post for Oilersnation is up! I looked at the first 20 games of last regular season and what some of the drivers were for the Oilers poor results.

After the first 20 games of last season (up until November 24^th), the Oilers had ten wins and ten losses – a points percentage of 0.500 that ranked 22^nd in the league. This was only better than Arizona, Vancouver, San Jose and Anaheim in the Western Conference. The team performed poorly at even-strength (5v5), which needed to be much better as the special teams was pretty much a non-factor due to the terrible penalty kill. The powerplay was a bright spot, generating the third-highest rate of goals in the league during this period. But all of their net goals (+19) were completely negated by the penalty kill that allowed the fourth-highest rate of goals against in the league.

In these first twenty games at even-strength, the Oilers had a -11 goal differential (33 goals for, 44 goals against) – a 42.85% goal-share that ranked 28^th in the league. The team’s below average shooting percentage and save percentage were obvious factors. But there’s a few more underlying issues.

Sunil Agnihotri/Oilersnation

Full article is at Oilersnation.com.