Our last Oil Check saw the team starting to roll in the post-Stuart Skinner era, led by an on-fire Connor McDavid, but then stumbling in the final couple of games of that stretch.
The Edmonton Oilers went 5–1–2 in their last eight games, including back-to-back shutouts this past weekend. All three losses were by just one goal, while the team outscored their opponents 25–6 in the five victories. The team is now two points out from first in the Pacific Division behind the Golden Knights, and have a seven-point lead on third-place Seattle (although both Vegas and Seattle have three games in hand).
Needless to say, the team is starting to look like a wagon once again. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why.
Did Edmonton finally find good goaltending?
Goaltending makes its usual appearance in this article, but this time it’s for good reasons.
Connor Ingram played five of the team’s last eight games, winning three and losing one in a shootout. He put up a 0.947 save percentage in that stretch, including no game below 0.900, which puts him seventh in the league overall in this stretch; his 0.917 over the season also has him seventh overall, but he is fifth overall among goalies who have played more than just a game.
Tristan Jarry also came back from injury and played two games, also faring quite well. He won one and lost the other in OT, posting a 0.931 save percentage between the two games (mind you, that is boosted by the shutout win, while he had just a 0.852 in the OT loss). Still, Jarry didn’t look bad in the OT loss, even if his decision to play the puck in OT could be thought of as questionable by some (not me, I think it was worth the risk).
Calvin Pickard played one game during this stretch, a 4–3 win over Winnipeg. He didn’t have a sterling save percentage (just 0.813), but he locked it in after letting in three goals in the first period. Granted, the team allowing just five more shots in the second and third probably made that job a lot easier, but he still had to stop those.
It would certainly seem that Pickard is going to be the odd man out when everything is said and done, but for now, it seems that the Oilers will be keeping all three guys on the roster for the foreseeable future. It is possible that they are doing that to allow for further evaluation. Or maybe it is because prospect Connor Ungar is absolutely crushing it in the AHL right now, and they don’t want to be taking starts away from him. Having a three-headed monster in goal isn’t usually ideal, but in this case, it isn’t actually the worst thing, assuming it is preventing the team from icing its best roster in front of the crease.
Getting consistent goaltending has been a huge reason for the team’s recent success, and having two potential starters in Jarry and Ingram as a tandem means that the team’s (and fan’s) comfort with who is manning the net is a lot higher than it was just a month ago.
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Return of the Kap (and depth scoring)
Kasperi Kapanen returned to the lineup after being out with an injury since October 19. He was immediately placed on the right wing with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin, which may have drawn some skepticism, given that both Matt Savoie and Jack Roslovic had shown well in that spot.
However, Kapanen quieted any doubters pretty quickly, scoring a goal and an assist in his first game back. He then posted five more points in the next six games, before suffering yet another injury in Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. His injury has been stated to be day-to-day, but it certainly sucks to see a guy who had taken the bull by the horns have another setback.
His seven points in that span puts him fifth on the team in scoring, and he also added 12 hits. Even when Draisaitl had to leave the team for personal reasons, he managed to gel with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, scoring two goals against Vancouver.
His linemate, Podkolzin, also posted seven points in the last eight games, and is now just two goals and three points away from tying his career highs.
With Draisaitl away the last two games, the rest of the team stepped up, cruising to a 5–0 victory over Vancouver, followed by a 6–0 victory against St. Louis. Ten Oilers had two or more points, and all but four had at least one point.
The Oilers look like they may have found their third line in Ike Howard, Jack Roslovic, and Matt Savoie. Curtis Lazar has made the case to be the fourth line centre for the foreseeable future.
When Adam Henrique comes back, there will certainly be some tough choices for the coaching staff to make. It is very possible that both Andrew Mangiapane and Trent Frederic will see themselves on the outside looking in, even if there have been some improvements in their game recently.
Nugent-Hopkins’ 1000th NHL game
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins became the second player to ever play their 1000th game wearing an Oiler uniform (Adam Henrique did it earlier this season), but he is the first to ever play their first 1000 games as an Oiler.
Nuge is now just 37 games away from tying Kevin Lowe for the most games played by an Oiler, meaning that, barring injury, he will pass him on the sixth game of next season. He will also become the franchise leader in seasons played with the team next year at 16, passing both Lowe and Ryan Smyth. With him being under contract for another three seasons after this one, it is safe to say that he will be the franchise leader for quite a while after he retires.
Nuge has 40 points in 41 games this year, putting him on pace for 71 points. That would be the second-highest scoring season in his career, after his 104-point outburst in 2022–23. He currently has 788 points in his 1,000 games, sixth-highest in team history. He has a good chance to be the sixth Oiler to hit 1000 points, and end his career as the fourth all-time in points behind Wayne Gretzky, McDavid, and Draisaitl.
It goes without saying that Nuge is one of the most popular Oilers of all time, and this milestone has certainly sparked a debate about whether an exception should be made to the Oilers’ Hockey Hall of Fame requirement for retiring jerseys. Time will tell if that ends up being made, but it will be hard to find any Oilers fan who would disagree with such a decision.
The next eight games
The Oilers have a very favourable schedule leading up to the Olympic break. The next seven games are all at home as part of an eight game home stand, with the final game being a road game against the Calgary Flames.
To add to the home-ice advantage, the Oilers see a team that played the night before in Calgary the next four games against New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Anaheim. They then play San Jose and Minnesota before getting that back-to-back benefit against Toronto.
The Oilers have been better at home this year with a 12–6–4 record versus 13–11–4 on the road. So that paired with five teams coming in tired will hopefully be a winning combination, allowing the Oilers to go into the break on a roll. This may very well be needed considering how the Oilers struggled after the 4 Nations last year, where they lost four straight games by a combined score of 21–10.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
two good games against two of the bottom teams and the craziness is back.. let them play better hockey against some better teams first..
Let Pickard go so he has a chance to play for another team. He deserves better than what they’re doing to him now. If fans and management are so happy with Jarry and Ingram run with them and give Picks the opportunity elsewhere.