The Edmonton Oilers snapped a three-game skid with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, but despite the win, the offensive struggles that have plagued the team in the early part of the season persisted.

The Oilers managed just one even-strength goal in the win over the Senators and have now opened the season with 2.57 goals and 53.6 shot attempts per game, both marks ranking in the bottom third of the league.

Outside of Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, no Oiler has managed to score more than two goals this year, while several impact players have largely been held in check.

Connor McDavid scored his first of the year on Tuesday, a power-play marker in the first period, ending the longest goalless drought of his career to open a season. Defenceman Evan Bouchard finally got on the scoresheet with his first point, a secondary assist, on the play.

The lack of scoring from up and down the lineup has been uncharacteristic for Edmonton, a team that’s been built with high-end talent and has been among the league leaders in goals per game in each of the past three seasons.

“The whole [offence] seems a little bit off,” said McDavid, who inked a two-year extension with the team just before the start of the regular season.

“The start’s been fine. It was kind of a ‘whatever’ start but we got to find a way to get rolling here. It doesn’t matter the situation last year, what happened. Play late, didn’t play late, whatever, [it] doesn’t matter. We got to get up and going and get playing better hockey.”

” I think a lot of it is five-on-five,” added head coach Kris Knoblauch. “It’s been pretty dry. I think a lot of it is just not being able to have…execution of the puck. Whether some games it’s the defence, sometimes it’s a forward and I just see a lot of broken plays where we’re not able to make the play.”

While still early on in the season, Edmonton sits at 3-3-1 through their first seven contests, good for fifth in the Pacific Division, and the lack of scoring has already prompted Knoblauch to shuffle his lines in search of more offence.

Matt Savoie was bumped up to the top line alongside McDavid and Draisaitl during the team’s morning skate on Thursday, while Vasily Podkolzin was shifted to the third line, skating with Noah Philip and Trent Frederic.

Savoie, a former ninth-overall pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2022, assisted on the overtime winner against the Senators on Tuesday, and has held his own in his first real run of play at the NHL level since being acquired by the team during the 2024 offseason.

Edmonton’s lines have looked a little different to begin the year with Zach Hyman and Mattias Janmark still yet to make their season debuts, but reinforcements could be on the way soon with the pair both trending towards returning.

Hyman, a 54-goal scorer in 2023-24, will likely slot in next to McDavid on the top line and is being targeted for a return in early November, according to Knoblauch. The Toronto native has been out since last season’s Western Conference Final with a dislocated wrist.

The Oilers return home for a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, before beginning a short two-game road trip over the weekend.