The Edmonton Oilers this past week struck a stark contrast.
From absolutely stinking the joint out on Tuesday on home ice, to one of their most disciplined performances of the season on Saturday.
Which one is the real Edmonton Oilers?
That and more in this edition of…
9. Leon Draisaitl’s fifteenth goal of the season on Saturday ties him with a few others for fourth spot in the NHL in 2025-26. Four more and he will pass Hall of Famer Glenn Anderson (417) for third in Edmonton Oilers franchise history.
8. The season is certainly not progressing in a straight line for this team. But at least some things are as they always should be. According to NHL EDGE, so far this year Connor McDavid boasts both the highest Max Skating Speed (24.62 MHP) and top Total Skating Distance (102.84 MI).
7. I like a lot of what Ty Emberson brings. The jury has been out as to whether he is a permanent fixture on this Defence. However, a play he made Saturday on the 2-0 goal turned my head. The way be gapped up on Beniers at mid ice is what put him the perfect position for the subsequent smart play up the wall to Mangiapane, resulting in the Draisaitl marker. Heady.
6. I was every bit as distressed as you with the lack of performance against Dallas. After the club had scratched and clawed to end that rough road trip at .500, I dared to think that they had turned things around. So, even after a complete performance win over Seattle a few nights later, forgive me for remaining a shade cautious. Once bitten…
5. The loss of Jack Roslovic sucks. In some ways, this club has just not been able to buy a break. “A couple weeks” could be six or seven games. I am strictly guessing…might he be back for the Montreal game on the fourteenth? I do not know about you, but so far Roslovic has been more than I expected. Smoother on the attack, better defensively than I had been led to believe. Maybe he has just been on a hot streak, but…
4. Connor Clattenburg had another six hits on Saturday plus had his first NHL major, a lop-sided scrap with Seattle’s Frederick Gaudreau. This on the heels of his first NHL goal the previous outing. It is easy to argue that the twenty-year-old still needs AHL seasoning. But when he makes an impact like this it would not be an easy call. However, lets see if Clattenburg can keep it going over a longer stretch. This can be damn hard league.
3. You know, we always say about Ryan Nugent-Hopkins that he “touches all aspects of the game for the Edmonton Oilers. That impact was on full display against Seattle on Saturday. The Nuge had a goal and an assist. He was a major part of the 2-for-2 Power play. At 4:37 he led all Oilers forwards in TOI shorthanded over six perfect kills. And at 5v5 his third line was very effective, especially after the Kraken had just finished trying to neutralize the McDavid and Draisaitl lines. How they have missed him.
2. About ten games ago my Cult of Hockey colleague David Staples and I were busy discussing the Oilers defensive woes. Quite a bit of what we saw then and assessed in terms of system play had been largely corrected by Saturday. Frequently a forward was high in O-zone to guard against odd-man rushes, as well as a forward low in the D-zone, allowing for safer 10-foot passes by the Defensemen instead of always a stretch attempt, minimizing turnovers. Call it “more connected” if you like. When I played, back in the Stone Age, we called them “pressure valves” or “support”. It was just one game so beware of the sample size. But they were good.
1.It is easy to imagine a scenario in which Saturday was Stuart Skinner’s last as an Edmonton Oiler. If you read my columns, you will know I am not in the “run Stu out of town” camp”. So, I was truly happy for the guy after he pitched a twenty-six save shutout. After the season and particularly the week that he has been through, just imagine the pressure Skinner had to have been dealing with Saturday as that game began. All he wants to be is the local kid who helps bring his hometown team a championship. Yet so much negative was being said and posted about him. I don’t know this about Stuart Skinner. But sometimes in life, the best thing that can happen is for someone to doubt you. Those who are real competitors (and if you are an NHL player, you are one, you do not get here without it) can often summon up an extraordinary performance just on the strength of “I’ll show them”. Against the Kraken, after a week of angst and anger, Skinner was perfect.
Look: A lot of this year’s issues for Stuart Skinner he has brought upon himself. But on too many nights the team has also been crap in front of him. It has been a little hard to tell where one at-fault ended and another began. In the final assessment, it is in the best interests of the Edmonton Oilers (in terms of what else is out there and in terms of the salary cap) that Stu plays like he did in Seattle for the majority of the rest of the season. It would solve a myriad of problems for Stan Bowman.
After all…few “real” options come at a better price point than Skinner does. And a grand total of none of those have been to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals.
I will still be cheering for Stuart Skinner, whether he is an Oiler or not.
This article is not AI generated.
Leavins Cult of Hockey
STAPLES: Oilers strong on Defence in solid 4-0 triumph over Seattle
LEAVINS: Edmonton Oilers blown out on home ice by Dallas
Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025.
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