Jeff Petry's play of late has been splendid, in my opinion. He's starting to log more and more minutes these past few games, in the absence of Gilbert. It seems since the Oilers skills competition, where he realized how hard he shoots the rock, he's been shooting more - a lot more. Petry can skate very well, has a good shot and can move the puck well. He makes some errors due to lack of experience (that Kovalchuk play, awareness of who's on the ice!) and you can never have too much confidence, something he sometimes doesn't have. But with the injury to Gilbert, Renney is using him more and more, replacing Gilbert's role. They are both very similar in playing style, except I think Petry is a bit more physical but not as polished.
The last 3 games he has played 26:22, 23:16 and 27:45 TOI, along with 2 apples. He had 3 shots in both the CBJ and LAK games, none in the St. Louis game because the team was garbage as a whole. 2:24 on the PP, 2:57 on the PK in St. Louis. 1:56 on the PP, 1:34 on the PK in Columbus. 2:17 on the PP, 2:44 on the PK in LA. On the PP, Petry has been pulling the trigger lots and it's a relief and he doesn't look out of place killing penalties either.
Have you noticed how much the Oilers D struggle to get shots through? We need to work on that because we need to get more shots on goal, but fans have been saying that for 5 years. Petry getting pucks on net is a blessing, I know that sounds weak, but I miss seeing that. I hope Petry keeps playing this way, because that would be 1 less top 4 D to acquire, as I think Ryan Whitney is not someone we can count on going forward. Have we found a D man who can do it all? Or is he just hot right now?
I sure hope it's the former, I think we all do for the sake of our beloved team.
Couldn't agree with you anymore, Petry is playing excellent
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