This in from Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, news that Edmonton Oilers centre Jason Dickinson hobbled off half-way through practice, and winger Zach Hyman is still out with injury:

“OUT tonight for EDM
Hyman, RNH, Walman.
Levi starts.
Dickinson limped off ice halfway thru practice.”

And from Bob Stauffer, the Oilers lines and pairings from practice before Dickinson limped off:

Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl
Frederic-Dickinson-Kapanen
Formenton-Michaels-Joseph
Hallander-Samanski-Howard
Jones-Hyman

Ekholm-
Shea-Murphy
Mukhamadullin-Emberson
Walman
RNH-Dach rotating through the D

Levi
Jarry

1. Dickinson limping off may be nothing, but it may be something. We’ll see. But it’s always worrisome when a player who has had a major injury continues to struggle with it.

Likewise, Walman being injured again is bad news. He was injured on and off all year and played poorly for long stretches. When healthy Walman can be a good player, a solid #3 d-man on a good team. But when he’s banged up, his play craters.

2. The silver lining? Coach Mike Babcock has talked about how injury is no excuse for a team playing poorly. Instead, he’s repeatedly stressed that it’s an opportunity for other players to step up. This is fair comment, so long as a team has players capable of stepping in and stepping up.

The Oilers evidently have such players right now. Newcomers Owen Michaels, Josh Samanski and Devon Levi are all making significant contributions. Edmonton also has players on the farm, such as Viljami Marjala, Quinn Hutson, Tomas Cibulka and Damien Carfagna, capable of succeeding in NHL games.

3. Babcock was not happy with the way his team played in Los Angeles, and said his team faces a huge challenge in a deep Utah squad. “We’ve got lots of work to do … We have to have way more time with the puck than we’ve had and play a way heavier game. So that is the challenge for our people that are getting great opportunities.”

Babcock said against Los Angeles the team didn’t have enough time in the offensive end: “We are one and done too much. The bottom line is, a big part of the league is, no one lets you have the puck. And when you’re a young guy and you come in the league, you think you’re going to have the puck. No, you’re not. You got to earn the puck. When you get it you got to hang on to it, or you got to backcheck and play defence. It’s way more fun to play on offence, so hang on to the thing.”

Babcock said he was glad the team got a good start against Los Angeles and found a way to win the game, but he didn’t want that kind of game to be seen as any kind of blueprint for how the team should play.

4. The Grade A shots in the Kings game were 11 for both teams, but in the subset of most dangerous five-alarm shots, it was 7-to-5 for Los Angeles. If the Kings had not fanned or missed the net on a number of great chances, L.A. might well have won that game. It’s good to hear Babcock recognize that and push for a better performance from the Oilers. The team came close to losing to a mediocre Kings squad.

5. On merit, Trent Frederic has earned his bump to the second line. He’s been Edmonton’s fifth most effective winger at even strength so far this year. And one of the top five, Hyman, is now out injured.

Ike Howard, Max Jones, Alex Formenton and Filip Hallander have all struggled so far to make a major impact at even strength.