A five-game trip this early in the season, when the Edmonton Oilers still are figuring some things out lineup-wise, fresh out of training camp, might not be the simplest task in the world.

Especially when ‘some things’ encompasses questions such as, who will end up playing on the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl by the time they make their way back home? How much of the reins is backup goalie Calvin Pickard going to get? Oh, and will they be able to keep winning and avoid the same type of slump they fell into out of the gates the past couple years?

After opening the schedule with a couple of home games, the Oilers take to the road for an eastern swing through the Metropolitan and Atlantic Divisions having gone undefeated so far.

Sure, the sample size is small, sitting at 1-0-1. But it’s already infinitely better than starting out 0-3 last season or 0-2 the year before (on the way to the 2-9-1 start that led to the dismissal of head coach Jay Woodcroft).

Of course, you can argue it’s not how they’ve started, but how they finished that counts most for the team coming off of consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup final.

Then again, simply playing for the Cup was never the ultimate goal. And in order to be able to get over the one final hump to winning it, they want to take advantage of every opportunity possible along the way, including avoiding another slow start.

Or, if it isn’t asking too much, maybe even jumping in with both skates first and translating this into a fast start?

“We’ve got to help ourselves out a little bit more compared to the last two years,” reigning league-leading goal scorer Draisaitl said following a 3-1 decision over the Vancouver Canucks to claim their first win of the season Saturday. “You can build a lot of momentum and you can build a lot of confidence within your group if you get off to a good start.

“You see it with a lot of teams, they get off to a really good start and then they just kind of carry it the rest of the way and they’re a playoff team. So, just give ourselves a better chance at that, and I think we’ll be good enough.”

But good enough for what, exactly?

Good enough to get off to a fast start this time around?

Good enough to translate it into some forward momentum early on to lead the way in the Pacific Division and challenge for another Western Conference title?

Or good enough to bring a Cup back to Edmonton for the first time since 1990?

Whoa, boy. It might be a good idea to slow right down and remember it’s just two games into the regular season.

At the same time, it all starts here and everything that happens now can contribute to making a slight difference closer to the finish line. That might not mean much in October. But when you’re a team that lost one Stanley Cup final by two goals in Game 7 and then another the next year by two games, those slim margins begin to magnify. Even early on.

G-MAN’S TAKE: The points earned in October count every bit as much as the ones that come after the trade deadline in March. And the teams that manage to find success early are only doing themselves a favour when they don’t have to press the pedal to the metal down the playoff stretch and then keep it there for a post-season run. It’s all easier said than done, of course.

What has been the difference heading into this season?

To say coming oh-so close to winning it all only to return emptyhanded is heartbreaking likely doesn’t come close to capturing the soul-crushing feeling of it all.

Making it all the way to the finish line, only to see the Florida Panthers cross it one step earlier with a 2-1 Game 7 win no doubt had a hangover effect for the Oilers going into last season. It was anyone’s game and one other bounce could have made for a different outcome.

The hockey gods were not smiling upon them. And that made for an extended period of lamentation.

But this year was a different story. It was apparent the Oilers weren’t good enough, having been outlasted by a Panthers squad that was deeper and tougher. This time, they knew they needed to get better.

“We’ve moved on from the previous season and playoffs, whatever happened,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Obviously, there’s still disappointment. But guys had done it once before, and (there is) no more feeling sore for ourselves.

“Let’s get to work. The attitude right from Day 1 has been upbeat, energetic.”

G-MAN’S TAKE: It could just be me, but there feels like a bit of a different atmosphere hanging in the Oilers dressing room this time around. The oh-poor-me sullen looks of a year ago have been replaced with more of a razor focus and an understanding of what each man in the room needs to do along with the level that’s expected of everyone. McDavid, in particular, has mentioned the need to get off on the right foot on at least three separate occasions, possibly hinting at his main focus over the coming weeks. Maybe he wasn’t willing to spend a lot of effort on the whole contract-extension stuff after all?

What will it take to get off to a fast start here?

No one is expecting the Oilers to go 5-0 on the way through both New York teams, the New Jersey Devils, the Detroit Red Wings and the Ottawa Senators.

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But coming off the defensive masterpiece that was their first win of the season over the Canucks, the Oilers might very well have laid out a blueprint for themselves that could end up seeing them go from their typical offensive-juggernaut selves, to a more well-rounded squad that has taken a long look in the mirror over the off-season and learned from their Cup runs.

This is an experienced and battle-tested group that knows games can be won by keeping the puck out of their net as much as they can by filling the opponent’s with rubber. From the outside looking in, that strategy seems to be more systemic and less reliant on a handful of offensively gifted stars having good nights.

G-MAN’S TAKE: The Oilers don’t have to win five road games. They just have to focus on beating the Rangers on Tuesday (5 p.m., Sportsnet). That’s the most important game to them right now, and the only one that matters.

The next one after that can be a tomorrow problem because if you don’t take it one game at a time, you risk getting ahead of yourself and falling behind.

And the Oilers are all too familiar with that feeling in the early goings of a season.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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