The Edmonton Oilers couldn’t have asked for a better performance coming off of their Christmas break. After dropping what was arguably their most disappointing loss of the season back on November 9th against the San Jose Sharks, they came out flying on Thursday night and defeated those same Sharks by a 5-0 final. Stuart Skinner earned the shutout to help get the Oilers back above .500.
This was as good an effort as the Oilers have had all season, as any fan would struggle to find any negatives from this outing. With the win, they have improved their record to 16-15-1 on the season, and now sit five points shy of the Nashville Predators for a wild-card position while holding three games in hand. Here are the three main takeaways from this game.
Oilers Came Out Flying Against Sharks
A big issue for the Oilers in past seasons was starting slow out of the gate. They often found themselves trailing early in games, and were forced to come back in heroic fashion to pull off some exciting yet concerning victories.
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This season that hasn’t been the case, as they have tended to start games quite well. The issue, especially early in the year, was that they would quickly let their foot off the gas after their strong starts, and were throwing away points as a result. Thankfully, that wasn’t the issue in this one.
The Oilers were on fire from the get-go, as Ryan McLeod scored just a minute in. They then got goals from Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Leon Draisaitl to extend the lead to 4-0 before the horn sounded to end the first frame. Though they would only add one more over the final 40 minutes, they controlled play for the entire game.
Plenty Contributors Throughout the Oilers Lineup
Generally, when the Oilers score several goals in an outing, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid lead the way. While both had a point in this one, they had plenty of depth scoring chip in, as they had 11 skaters record at least a single point, while Bouchard, Hyman, McLeod, and Darnell Nurse all had multi-point outings.
One Oiler who was able to get on the board was Connor Brown, who recorded a secondary assist on Bouchard’s tally to go up 3-0. Though it was just a secondary assist, this could help build some much-needed confidence for Brown, who entered the game with one point through his first 24 games. Getting him going would help add to what is already a lethal offensive group.
Skinner Up to the Challenge, Earns the Shutout
Though Stuart Skinner didn’t have to be great in this game given his team’s offensive output, he was fantastic all night in what was his second shutout of the season. After an ugly start to his 2023-24 campaign, he has really rounded a corner as of late, and is giving the Oilers exactly what they need from their number-one netminder.
Though his season stats of a 2.91 goals against average (GAA) along with a .891 save percentage (SV%) are still not exactly appealing to the eye, they don’t tell the exact story. His stats have improved all three months of the season, particularly October, where he had a ghastly 3.51 GAA and a .863 SV%.
Looking Ahead for the Oilers
The Oilers now find themselves on a three-game winning streak and have won 11 of their past 14 outings. Their chances of making it four in a row won’t come easy, as they are facing a dangerous LA Kings team at the Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night. Despite owning a 20-8-4 record on the season, however, they have been stumbling a bit as of late, going just 5-4-1 over their last 10 outings.
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