For Robert Nilsson, it's like playing with a pair of bodyguards.
The size, strength and willingness of Ryan Stone and Zack Stortini to do the dirty work has afforded the Edmonton Oilers winger more room on the ice than he's ever had.
And lately, Nilsson has been making the most of it.
"They play simple hockey and they leave me a lot of room and find me in the offensive zone and they go to the net," said Nilsson. "It's a simple game with them and I feel comfortable playing my style of game with them. It's a good fit. I know where I have them. I feel like a have a lot of room out there."
Nilsson and his linemates have become an effective unit for the Oilers. They were reunited in a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild Wednesday, where Nilsson collected his fifth goal of the season. He now has nine points in his last 11 games.
"Everyone counts them as a fourth line, but through the road trip and much of the homestand, they were as effective as anybody we put out there," said Oilers head coach Pat Quinn. "It just shows with certain kinds of skill, if you work at it and do simple things and try to do them well, it can pay dividends and those guys are showing it."
The trio was used extensively on the five-game road trip where the Oilers managed to win every game.
They have since come crashing back to earth with a five-game losing skid, but are expected to play together again tonight as the Oilers travel to face the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place.
"I think having that space helps him (Nilsson) a lot -- he knows it and he likes it," said Quinn. "We talked about getting some squeaky wheels saying that 'I need to play with some skill with me to be a good player' and that sort of thing, so we juggled our lineup and never won a bloody game.
"That was the reason we went back with it (Wednesday).
"Now we didn't win, but we played a lot better as a team throughout the whole game than we have been."
Nilsson, 24, had a slow start to the season and even found himself on the bubble coming out of training camp. Had it not been for injuries to Marc Pouliot and Fernando Pisani, the son of former Oilers forward Kent Nilsson may have been sent to the minors to start the year.
When he did get into the lineup, Nilsson struggled, mainly in his own zone giving the puck away far too often for his coach's liking.
The fact he wasn't producing offensively wasn't winning him many fans either.
"I just feel like I'm not afraid to play the style of play that I want to play," Nilsson said. "I also feel like I'm shooting the puck a bit more. I just feel a little more relaxed and I just want to play my game.
"Before, I was as confused as I had ever been out there and you definitely can't play hockey that way."
Since returning from a concussion, Nilsson has looked like a new player.
Perhaps knowing the odds of him taking a shot from an opponent is greatly reduced now that Stone and Stortini have given Nilsson some peace of mind.
"It's about getting him the puck and getting to the net," said Stortini. "He makes great plays out there and it's our job to retrieve pucks when we dump it in and try to get it to him. He's very skilled. He's got great hands, great speed and he's a great guy both on and off the ice."
Oil drops ...
Despite his recent struggles, Oilers defenceman Denis Grebeshkov was named to the Russian Olympic team yesterday. The native of Yaroslavl, Russia, has won two world championships and a pair of junior world titles with his national side. For more, see Page 17.
derek.vandiest@sunmedia.ca
