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Mike Babcocks First Look At The Oilers
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- Mike Babcocks First Look At The Oilers
Mike Babcock was pretty clear when he said he needed to see the Edmonton Oilers on the ice before he knew what he had, and Saturday's 5-2 preseason win over the Winnipeg Jets gave him his first game with the group.
There was a few things he liked. Alex Formenton scored in his first game, Ryan Shea had three points beside Evan Bouchard , Colton Dach played centre between Formenton and Mathieu Joseph , and Babcock said he was happy with what he got from that line.
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"Pretty good, eh?" Babcock said of Formenton. "I mean, what a difference maker he's going to be for us. An elite penalty killer, puts pressure on the other team. I thought him, (Mathieu Joseph and Colton Dach) were unreal. That was my favourite line tonight by far."
Formenton scored on a breakaway, had another breakaway stopped and drew a penalty on another rush. Babcock also mentioned his penalty-killing, which was expewcted from the begining.
Dach's night at the centre was a bit unexpected, and even Babcock admitted he wasn't sure how putting him in the middle would go.
"I was hoping for Dachker big time today," Babcock said. "We need him to be a player, and for him to play the way he did in his first exhibition game this year, playing in the middle… I didn't know if I had put him in a bad spot, to be honest with you. But I was so happy with that line."
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Shea played 22:31 beside Bouchard where he had one goal and two assists. Overall, it would have seemed the Oilers' first preseason game was a success, almost.
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Babcock wasn't as happy with the line of Isaac Howard , Josh Samanski and Max Jones . Howard didn't have the night Babcock wanted from him after a good start to camp, albeit, Babcock stressed that it was just one game, and nothing to get to hung up on.
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His evaluation also includes Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl . Babcock was asked after the game whether the preseason opener was mainly about the players still trying to secure a spot on Edmonton's roster Babcock jumped straight to his best players.
"One hundred percent the opposite," Babcock said. "Those guys have got to do things right, and if they do things right, everyone else will do things right."
Babcock wants McDavid and Draisaitl playing with detail without the puck, and he wants that to be part of their game throughout the season. He also wants enough depth in the lineup to manage the fact that those two will now be playing together.
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"They're the most important people to do things without the puck that we need," Babcock said. "Now, they're going to play their game. But they have to play with detail without the puck. Then the second part is to find depth. We need depth in the organization, so we don't have to play those guys too much.
"So that's my job: find it."
Draisaitl turned the puck over in the offensive zone on the opening shift and Winnipeg went back the other way for a scoring chance. As soon as the whistle blew, Babcock pulled them off the ice, and the line returned for the third shift.
Babcock has been consistent about what he wants from the group since camp started, emphasizing things like taking care of the puck and playing with detail, which are the things he mentioned before Saturday's game.
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"I want us to take care of the puck. I want us to play with detail. I want us to work," Babcock said. "Is that a reasonable expectation for your first exhibition game? I don't know, but that's what we're gonna try to do."
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