The Edmonton Oilers breaking out of their season-long malaise and transitioning into a playoff contender again is a little like an obese guy trying to live up to his New Year’s resolution: It’s not what he weighs today, it’s what he weighs tomorrow.
It’s about consistency and discipline over the long haul.
It’s great if he ate right and got his 10,000 steps in yesterday, but all of that effort is for nothing if he follows it up with pasta, muffins and six hours on the couch today.
So, as much as the Oilers want to savour Thursday’s well-earned and much-needed 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, a more accurate truth about where they are as a hockey team comes Saturday in San Jose.
String together two solid performances in a row against Pacific Division challengers and maybe you can make a case that they’re heading in the right direction. But if they decide to turn this into another cheat day, they might as well put on a moomoo and be done with it.
“I thought we fixed some things and we’re kind of building, so it’s going to take a little bit of time, but we’re doing well,” said defenceman Jake Walman, whose two goals in L.A. highlighted a bounce-back game with partner Darnell Nurse.
Walman admits the consistency they’ve been searching for has been elusive, a lot of pizza and wings nights, if we’re still keeping with the diet theme. But they all still believe that this team can be as lean and mean as any.
“In the past, this team knows exactly what it takes. We just have to find that. This is the playoff push for us now. It’s a tight race and we have to play every game like it’s our last.”
Head coach Kris Knoblauch has no choice but to be brutally honest about where his team stands. He has to because everyone can see what’s happening and there is no use sugar-coating the truth.
Trevor Moore #12 of the Los Angeles Kings and Mikey Anderson #44 of the Los Angeles Kings defend against Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers during the first at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 26, 2026, in Los Angeles
The Oilers are 4-6 in their last 10 games, and they came out of the Olympic reset looking every bit as troubled as they did before it. So Saturday afternoon in San Jose will give us a better handle on who the real Oilers are — the team that spit up a pair of two-goal leads in a 6-5 loss to the Ducks or the tight, dangerous team that held the Kings to one goal on 22 shots.
“It’s unfortunate that one slipped away from us in Anaheim,” said Knoblauch, citing costly gaffes on the back end and in net for ruining an otherwise decent effort.
“If we were able to make a couple more defensive plays and another save or two, we’re probably ecstatic about how we played there. But we were short a couple of defensive plays and a couple of saves and we lose it and we’re very disappointed. Overall, we played pretty well (the last six periods) but there is still room for growth.”
A save or two? Connor Ingram had a much easier night in Los Angeles than Tristan Jarry had in Anaheim, there is no question about it. The defence got its act together and the Oilers spent most of the night in L.A.’s end, exposing a horrible night of goaltending at the other end.
Still, given Jarry’s body of work lately — four losses in his last six starts, not counting the hook he got with the score 5-5 in the third period against Anaheim — there is every reason to believe it’s going to be Ingram’s net for a while. At least until Jarry figures things out.
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry plays his his first home game with the Oilers against the New Jersey Devils at Rogers Place on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.
Ingram, like the Oilers, needs to show consistency over the long haul, but he’s showing signs that he can carry the load.
“Since he’s been here, he’s been really solid, that’s all I know,” said Walman. “Just solid, steady, he’s got that kind of quiet confidence. He’s been great for us.”
Now, they need to be great for him because no goalie can survive the team that played in front of Jarry in Anaheim. The finish line is in sight, the standings are tighter than a noose — if the Oilers don’t tighten up their team defence right now, it’s probably never going to happen, and the season will be lost.
“Some games you score and some games you don’t, but the one thing you can control is how you defend,” said winger Zach Hyman, who is absolutely confident Edmonton can get back to that playoff-style game.
“It’s there, obviously. It’s just cleaning up some of the rushes and the Grades A’s. When you play like that and the goaltender makes the saves he needs to make, you’re not going to give up too many goals. (Ingram) played phenomenal, just solid, and we were pretty good in front of him.”
That was yesterday. Now if only they can keep bacon and doughnuts off the menu for Saturday brunch in San Jose.
E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com
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