For most of the regular season, the Edmonton Oilers have been a maddening contradiction with porous defence and a penalty kill that had seen much better.
But something has shifted in recent weeks, and Connor Ingram can feel it.
Oilers finding a more sustainable approach
After Thursday night’s thrilling 4–3 overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, which was Edmonton’s second straight OT win over Vegas in three days, Ingram summed up the change that NHL insider Elliotte Friedman quoted in his latest 32 Thoughts column.
“We’ve found a way to play that’s given us success. Now it’s not being stubborn and sticking with it. Playing simple. We’re a good enough hockey club we’re going to get our chances. As long as we don’t give them that many, we’re going to be just fine.”
On paper, the Oilers might not even be winning these games with a penalty kill ranked 25th in the NHL at 77.0 percent. Not with defensive metrics that have been subpar for most of the season.
Yet here they are: 36–28–9 with 81 points, sitting second in the Pacific Division just one point ahead of Vegas and five points behind division-leading Anaheim with 10 games remaining. More importantly, they’re winning the right way, that is the playoff way, even if the regularseason numbers don’t reflect it yet.
Defensive details trending upward
Thursday’s win over Vegas was exhibit A. The Oilers’ penalty kill, statistically one of the league’s worst, delivered three huge kills including one in overtime.
According to Friedman’s column, during Tuesday’s 5–2 victory over Utah, the Oilers posted way-above-average defensive metrics per Sportlogiq. They blocked almost double the amount of even-strength shots as usual and played a much stingier defence of their blueline.
Friedman noted it’s baby steps, but they’re leading to big performances. And in a Pacific Division race this tight, that’s all that matters.
So what exactly is “the way” Ingram referenced? It’s playing simple, structured hockey. It’s blocking shots, lots of them, instead of relying solely on Connor McDavid to outscore mistakes. It’s trusting that a penalty kill ranked 25th in the regular season can still be elite when the game is on the line, because desperation and focus trump statistics in March.
It’s also playing with the league’s top power play (32.1%) as a safety net, knowing that if you can stay disciplined 5v5 and win the special teams battle, you don’t need to be perfect defensively. You just need to be good enough.
And right now, good enough is working. The Oilers have won four of their last six games with three of those victories decided by a single goal. They’ve beaten Vegas twice in overtime in the span of four days. They’ve turned Connor Ingram who was in the AHL a few months ago, into their starting netminder after the Tristan Jarry experiment didn’t work out as expected.
Oilers vying for the division
The challenge now, as Ingram said, is not being stubborn and sticking with it. That’s easier said than done for a team built on offensive firepower and highlight-reel talent but well, whatever works.
The Oilers host Anaheim on Saturday night in a crucial divisional showdown. A regulation win would pull them within three points of first place with nine games to play. But more than the standings implications, it’s a test of whether “the way” is real or just a two-game blip against Vegas.
As Friedman wrote, these are baby steps. But if the Oilers can turn baby steps into big performances for 10 more games, they might just find themselves with home-ice advantage in the first round.
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