{"id":534956,"date":"2026-04-01T16:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/534956\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T16:01:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:01:17","slug":"edmonton-oilers-3-stars-for-march-the-hockey-writers-edmonton-oilers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/534956\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers\u2019 3 Stars for March – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Edmonton Oilers have slowly found their game in March, posting a 9-4-1 record. Their overall record has improved to 38-28-9 for 85 points. They find themselves just two points behind the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> for the division lead. They\u2019ve played much better, especially defensively. Edmonton has picked up massive wins this month against the Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, and Vegas Golden Knights twice.<\/p>\n

The Oilers concluded March on a season-long four-game winning streak. They are peaking at the right time and are getting contributions throughout the lineup. They lost Leon Draisaitl to injury<\/a> on March 15, but other players have stepped up in his absence, and the whole group has bought in. With that said, here are the Oilers\u2019 three stars for March.<\/p>\n

Third Star: Connor Ingram<\/p>\n

With Tristan Jarry\u2019s struggles, Connor Ingram<\/a> was named the Oilers\u2019 starting goaltender, and he\u2019s making the most of his opportunities. He has been a calming presence in the crease and is quietly having a solid season. He finished the month with a 7-2-1 record, with a 2.60 goals-against average (GAA) and a .902 save percentage (SV%). He now has a 2.69 GAA and an .898 SV% on the campaign. It\u2019s no coincidence that Ingram\u2019s play improved at the same time the team buckled down defensively.<\/p>\n

Related: Edmonton Oilers\u2019 3 Stars for January<\/a><\/p>\n

On his 29th birthday, he also recorded a 27-save shutout<\/a> against the Seattle Kraken in the final game of the month. He started 11 games in March and had a .900 SV% or better in five of them. He hasn\u2019t been perfect, but he has been stable, and that\u2019s what Edmonton needs. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native was forced out of a game against the Avalanche after Nathan MacKinnon ran him over. However, he returned a few games later and didn\u2019t miss a beat, which is a testament to his toughness.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) this offseason, and general manager Stan Bowman should strongly consider re-signing him. He has solidified himself as the number one netminder in Oil Country, and he has endeared himself to the fan base.<\/p>\n

Second Star: Evan Bouchard<\/p>\n

Evan Bouchard<\/a> has had a phenomenal season, and that continued in March. He finished the month with three goals and 17 points in 14 games, including five multipoint performances. He\u2019s arguably the most clutch player on the team. He scored a massive overtime winner against the Golden Knights on March 26 in a huge divisional contest. The 26-year-old has a career-high 86 points this season, leading all defencemen, eight more than second place.<\/p>\n

While he\u2019s an elite offensive defenceman, his defensive play has much improved. He has taken on more responsibilities. He\u2019s the quarterback on the power play, but he also leads the team in shorthanded ice time. He plays in all situations, and that hasn\u2019t hurt his offensive numbers. He\u2019s great at breaking up the cycle, and he has the elite skill to transition the puck up the ice efficiently. It\u2019s unlikely he\u2019ll win the Norris Trophy, but Bouchard should undoubtedly be in the conversation.<\/p>\n

First Star: Matt Savoie<\/p>\n

Matt Savoie<\/a> has found his game at the NHL level. He\u2019s an extremely smart player, but he wasn\u2019t producing offensively early in the season. He couldn\u2019t score, but that changed after the Olympic break. The 22-year-old rookie had four goals and seven points in March, including three consecutive games with a goal. While those numbers don\u2019t jump off the page, he\u2019s scratching the surface offensively, and he should only get better.<\/p>\n

\"MattThe Edmonton Oilers celebrate a goal scored by forward Matt Savoie against the New York Rangers (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the first star solely based on points. He continues to lead the forward group in shorthanded ice time while being promoted to the top line and the first power-play unit in Draisaitl\u2019s absence. He plays in all situations and is finally being rewarded on the scoresheet.<\/p>\n

Savoie is gaining confidence with every game, and as a result, he\u2019s shooting the puck more and creating opportunities. He finished the month with 31 shots, including five games with at least four shots, all coming in the last nine games. The youngster has earned his ice time and should remain on the top line alongside Connor McDavid. He\u2019s peaking at the right time, and hopefully this play continues into April.<\/p>\n

Keep following The Hockey Writers<\/a> for all your NHL content throughout the season, as we approach the playoffs.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Edmonton Oilers have slowly found their game in March, posting a 9-4-1 record. Their overall record has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5125],"tags":[2663,198,146,5300,425,5,1591,4,24],"class_list":["post-534956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton-oilers","tag-connor-ingram","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-edmontonoilers","tag-evan-bouchard","tag-hockey","tag-matthew-savoie","tag-nhl","tag-oilers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116330292888223153","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}