Prior to their first regular season match-up against the Utah Hockey Club in Utah’s team history, the Edmonton Oilers had themselves a true quarter-season break. Following their 6–2 victory against the New York Rangers this past Saturday, the Oilers had six days to enjoy the American Thanksgiving and to regroup as they begin the journey to the midway point of the season.
With an 11–9–2 record and a number of questions heading into the next part of the 2024–25 campaign, the Oilers were able to fight off the turkey coma and eke out a win in their first-ever outing against the Utah Hockey Club. It may not have been pretty but Connor McDavid and Co. got it done. Without further ado, let’s explore our three main takeaways from the game.
Vasily Podkolzin keeps it going
For the second straight game, Vasily Podkolzin opens the scoring for the Copper and Blue. Driving into the offensive zone on a two-on-one with Leon Draisaitl, Podkolzin chose to leave the puck on his own stick instead of passing. This would be a great decision as his shot made it past Karel Vejmelka and started the Oilers’ comeback from a 2–0 deficit.
With injuries to Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson and inconsistent production from Jeff Skinner and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Podkolzin and his play continue to make the case for him being the Oilers’ best offseason acquisition. While he may not be putting up point-per-game numbers (or even half a point-per-game), his physicality, and hard work on the boards continue to push the play into the enemy territory and keep the puck in the offensive zone long enough for magic to happen.
Special teams are back
As discussed in our review of the Edmonton Oilers at the quarter-season mark, the Oilers’ penalty kill and power play teams have been leaving a lot to be desired. Finding themselves near the bottom of the league (or even at the bottom) so far this season, the Oilers know that these are components of their game that need continued improvement and consistency heading into the second quarter of the season.
Luckily, the Oilers are already answering these concerns with a phenomenal special teams performance against Utah. The Oilers were perfect on the penalty kill, killing off the lone penalty they took all game. When it came to the power play, the Oilers scored twice on three opportunities which is the first time they scored more than one power play goal in a game all season.
The Oilers know full well that to succeed in this league, their special teams need to continue to get better and this performance was certainly a sign of good things to come. We have certainly come to expect a lot of Edmonton’s power play and when you have guys like McDavid, Leon Draistail and Evan Bouchard, why wouldn’t you?
Late lead collapse
Once again, the Edmonton Oilers were heading into the third period with a lead. And once again, the Edmonton Oilers managed to let that lead slip away. Lawson Crouse has been without a goal in 14 games and did he ever pick a good time to end his drought. Early into the third period, Nick Bjugstad passed the puck to Crouse who skated close to Calvin Pickard and put his shot over Pickard’s glove and into the back of the net.
Oilers are no strangers to these third-period collapses this season. While they were able to leave Salt Lake City with a victory and have done the same with some of the past lead giveaways, this is something that Kris Knoblauch needs to address sooner rather than later. With how close the Western Conference and Pacific Division have been (and will likely continue to be) this season, the Oilers cannot afford to leave points on the table as every subsequent game becomes more and more meaningful to the team standings.
If there is one positive to take away from these lead collapses, it is that Edmonton has continued to show that it can overcome this adversity. Heading into the season, Leon Draistaitl talked about this team’s need to create their own identity and these experiences are certainly a good way to make the team resilient, something that will be absolutely crucial if the Oilers are looking to once again go for all the marbles this season.
What’s next for the Oilers?
Oilers will play the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night as part of a back-to-back before heading to Las Vegas for the final game of a three-game road trip. Avalanche have seemed to be quite inconsistent this season and with a 13–11–0 record, they are looking for any spark they can find to get back to the winning ways that lead them to the Stanley Cup win in 2022. Coming off a 5–3 loss to their division rivals, the Dallas Stars, Colorado will certainly have a chip on their shoulders heading into the match-up.
