Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
But that has no bearing on how fresh and rested they've been for all the bottom feeders they've played so far.
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No, I'm saying their schedule will get tougher, and that will make a difference, especially if their injury luck turns (which it is more likely to do when your schedule is tougher).
If you look at the LA Kings, that team was at the top of the league in point percentage in December but was behind in games played to everyone. The "make up" period for that was in January when they had something like 16 games in 31 nights, and it's totally derailed their whole season. Yes there are other reasons, but a compressed schedule gives you less opportunity to resolve other problems because guys can't heal and practice time is limited. And I don't think that's a result of the Kings being frauds or that their early season success was a mirage - they legitimately are a really good team. They just couldn't handle the challenges and speedbumps that came their way during this particularly tight schedule stretch.
The Oilers do not have a month like the Kings' January in the back half, other than the last week or so of the season. However, they
do have a generally tighter schedule that should - key word
should - create some problems for them that could easily throw a wheel or two off the current wagon that they are, especially since we know this is a pretty streaky team that has a proven track record of getting stuck in a rut on occasion.
To a lesser degree, the Canucks face the same thing for a few weeks coming out of the all star break but as that team seems to have a horseshoe jammed firmly up the orca's rear end (for example I would have said the same thing about a 7 game eastern road trip to start January) I no longer have any expectations about them following any sort of realistic or reasonable regression path. At least until the playoffs start.