Oilers appear to implement major strategy change that's quickly paying off

The Oilers were struggling to generate offence at 5v5 early this season, and day pointed to a bizarre amount of shots from the blue line resulting in turnovers. The heavily increased rate of point shots led fans to believe it might be an offensive strategy, and now, it's fallen out of order.

In the Oilers last few games they've seen an offensive explosion, and the areas of their chances has changed - trending much more towards the slot.

The defence is actually still shooting at a similar rate from the point, but credit goes to the Oilers forwards for playing a more connected game down low in the offensive zone. Their cycles have been much more effective lately, as well as their ability to get to secondary chances around the net.

Earlier this season, their 5v5 offence was a total black hole near the slot. It's no coincidence that they finally start scoring as they stopped the perimeter play.

Perhaps it wasn't as much as a strategy change as much as it was some relax time dedicated to honing their strategy.

The Oilers have had exceptionally little practice time in the early part of the season with their intense travel schedule and road trips. With all the turnover at the forward position, maybe they just needed more practice time to dial in the systems - and make any necessary adjustments.

Mattias Ekholm was one player to openly admit the lack of practice time and heavy schedule was affecting them this year.

Whatever it is, the quality of Oilers offence has improved drastically in recent games and it's directly helped them move up the standings. Once again, they're starting to look like a championship caliber team.