The Edmonton Oilers extended their win streak to four games by defeating the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 at Canada Life Centre on Thursday (Nov. 30).
Leon Draisaitl, Ryan McLeod, and Darnell Nurse scored as Edmonton rallied with three unanswered goals in the final seven minutes after trailing 1-0 since the opening period. Cole Perfetti was the lone Jets player to put a puck past Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner, who made 25 saves for his fourth straight win.
After starting the season 2-9-1, Edmonton has won seven of its last 10 games and is 6-3-0 since Jay Woodcroft was relieved of his duties as head coach and replaced by Kris Knoblauch on Nov. 12.
But while they’ve had some impressive performances lately – they lit up the scoreboard with eight goals against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday (Nov. 26) and prevailed over the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights in a shootout on Tuesday (Nov. 28) – Thursday’s game was perhaps the closest that the Oilers have resembled the Stanley Cup contenders everyone expected them to be at the beginning of the season. Here are three reasons why the win in Winnipeg was so encouraging:
Oilers Didn’t Panic
Edmonton fell behind 1-0 when Perfetti scored on the power play with 1:33 remaining in the first period and spent most of the rest of the game trying to get back on even ground. The challenge was to solve one of the best in the biz, Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck, who turned aside the first 31 shots he faced Thursday.
Despite entering the third period trailing, Edmonton didn’t chase the play, but rather controlled it, outshooting Winnipeg 17-8 over the final 20 minutes and staying out of the penalty box.
“Often guys deviate from the play when it’s not working and just take shortcuts on trying to create some more offence, but I didn’t see that tonight, I saw (them) sticking with the game plan and working really hard.,” Knoblauch said while speaking to media after the game.
“The composure of the team was on full display,” Nurse told media in Edmonton’s locker room. “For us to be down one in the first and not open our game up and push for too much offence, and at the same time knowing the chances were there, we did try to convert.”
Oilers Show Ability to Rally
That chance came at 13:11 of the third period when Nurse shot from just inside the Winnipeg blue line and the puck bounced into the back of the net off the glove of Hellebuyck. A few minutes later, Oilers captain Connor McDavid drew a holding the stick penalty on Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi, and Draisaitl scored on the ensuing power-play at 17:47 to put Edmonton ahead. McLeod finished things off by scoring into an empty net.
This was Edmonton’s first come-from-behind victory of 2023-24 on the road, where they have struggled mightily to protect leads, blowing 2-0 leads in back-to-back games against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Nov. 20 and versus the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Nov. 22.
In nine games since Knoblauch has taken over, the Oilers have outscored their opponents 24-17 in the last two periods combined, including 12-8 in the third. Those numbers represent a critical turnaround from Edmonton’s 13 games before the coaching change when the Oilers were outscored 35-16 over the last 40 minutes of regulation.
Oilers Prevail in a Low-Scoring Game
Until Thursday, the Oilers had yet to win a game in 2023-24 when they tallied less than four goals. Edmonton’s combination of shaky goaltending and abhorrent defensive play has left the team with no hope other than to outscore their opposition.
Over their current four-game win streak, the Oilers have allowed two or fewer goals three times, with Skinner posting a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.72 and a save percentage (SV%) of .931 during that stretch.
Related: Top 3 Oilers in First Quarter of 2023-24 NHL Season
Championship-caliber teams need to be able to win when they’re not filling the net, and that’s exactly what the Oilers did on Thursday. They won by playing smart, sound, and without mistakes in their own end. They won with their goaltender not giving up the next goal when his team was trailing. And they won not by taking foolish chances that end up in the back of their net, but by having confidence that they would eventually break through.
Edmonton now sits sixth in the Pacific Division with a 9-12-1 record for 19 points, five points out of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. Thursday’s game was a critical one for the Oilers to pick up two points, as they will not play again until next Wednesday (Dec. 6) when they host the Carolina Hurricanes. The key for the Oilers will be to sustain their momentum over this five-day layoff and continue playing at this elevated level against the Hurricanes and onward.