On the 1260 post game show last night, someone asked how much better points wise the Oilers are compared to last year after 33 games.
They are one point better and were tied with San Jose for 3rd on December 15th last year (game 33). Calgary and Anaheim were 1st and 2nd with 44 and 41 points.
Looking at simply the total in the standings omits some perspective on how the seasons played out though. At game 33 last year Edmonton had 39 points, but were just finishing up a 9-2-2 heater then proceeded to lose its next 6 straight (in regulation even). Looking further ahead that team went 6-17-2 over its next 25 games.
Leading up to game 33, Edmonton had been wildly inconsistent. They had started 0-2, followed by an 8-2-1 stretch, followed by a 1-6-0 stretch before the 9-2-2 run.
The big difference so far this year is the poor stretches haven't been nearly as devastating from a win-loss-Bettman point perspective. Could they go 6-17-2 over the next 25 games. Possibly, especially when we look at the last 7 games. But overall, the team this year has at least shown to be be able to pick themselves off the mat before the knockout punch. We've got to hope they can continue to do it so that hockey is at least worth watching come March.
Another thing to consider when looking at last year's team at this same point in time, the playoff team in 2016 was 16-12-5 after 33 games, so they're most certainly not done for the year, but there's obviously a lots of work still to do.
Now Holland has to find what the magic ingredient to get the train it back onto the track. Last year, Chiarelli thought the answer was Petrovic and Manning. Hopefully, Holland can do something smarter than that, which shouldn't be hard considering how badly that went.
