News Oilers Team Notes

[Edmonton Oilers]

WATCH: Oilers’ Isaac Howard scores first NHL goal

One of the prominent rookies in the game has tickled the twine for the first time.

On Tuesday night, Edmonton Oilers forward Isaac Howard scored the first goal of his NHL career, and it occurred with two of the best players in hockey alongside him.

It happened during the second period of the team’s game against the Ottawa Senators. It came when Howard was on the ice with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, right after serving a penalty for the first time in his career. McDavid forced a turnover in the Senators’ zone, with Draisaitl picking up the loose puck.

Draisaitl then found Howard open in the slot, with Howard firing a shot through Linus Ullmark’s five-hole to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead.

FIRST NHL GOAL

ISAAC HOWARD

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/ynXmKEskh9

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 22, 2025

It was also the first point of Howard’s career. The Hudson, Wis. native had been held off the scoresheet in the first five appearances with the Oilers. Coming into Tuesday night, he had a plus/minus of -1 while averaging 9:46 of ice time. Howard had been spending most of his time in the bottom six, being listed with David Tomasek and veteran center Adam Henrique.

There was a lot of intrigue with Howard heading into his first season with the team. The Oilers acquired the former Michigan State Spartan’s signing rights from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Sam O’Reilly. Howard had originally announced that he was going to return to college hockey after failing to reach a deal with the Lightning. However, after signing with Edmonton, Howard immediately signed a three-year, entry-level contract.

Howard’s stock had never been higher, as he was coming off a great season at MSU, where he scored 26 goals and 52 points, finishing second among Big Ten skaters in scoring behind Penn State forward Aiden Fink. Howard ended up fifth in the nation in scoring, trailing Denver’s Jack Devine, who posted 52 points. Howard was later named the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey.

Howard has also experienced success on the international stage. He helped the United States win the gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship and 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

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Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/watch-edmonton-oilers-isaac-howard-scores-first-nhl-goal

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

What does a successful 2025-26 season look like for Oilers’ Noah Philp?

Through seven games in the early 2025-26 campaign, the Edmonton Oilers have only four players on the team who have scored more than once, and centerman Noah Philp is one of them.

If there’s one word that sums up Philp’s hockey journey, it’s resilience. From going undrafted to stepping away from the game in 2023 and finding his way back, and now playing in the NHL, he’s continued to show that same determination this season by playing well despite a few early scratches. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what a successful season could look like for the Oilers’ centerman.

A Look at Philp’s Season So Far and What a Successful Point Total Could Look Like​

Philp had an unlucky bounce in the first game of the season against the Calgary Flames when a puck deflected off him and in, but he didn’t let that tough break get the best of him.

In the second game of the season against the Vancouver Canucks, the 27-year-old’s line with Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen clicked. After a couple of quick passes in the second period, Philp went backhand to forehand and fired a quick wrister past Thatcher Demko — who had been a wall all night up to that point — scoring his first career NHL goal, something he had likely envisioned countless times while playing road hockey in Canmore, AB.

Noah Philp

418th player in Oilers NHL history to score a goal pic.twitter.com/icC1oQQtHz

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) October 12, 2025

Now let’s talk about confidence. Confidence can be tricky, but it’s also an important factor in a player’s performance when they’re feeling it. After scoring his first NHL goal, something he wasn’t able to do in 15 games last season, and doing so against a quality netminder like Demko on a night when he was making highlight-reel saves one after another, one would assume Philp’s confidence would be near an all-time high. So, the logical choice would be to keep playing him, right?

Unfortunately, for some reason, Philp was a healthy scratch for the next three games, which was quite the head-scratcher considering he had just scored and was showing clear signs of improvement from last season.

Yet, the centerman made a statement when he was re-inserted into the lineup against the Detroit Red Wings last Sunday. With the Oilers down 2-0 and struggling to score, Philp found himself on the ice with Podkolzin again, and the rugged winger shot the puck on net and Philp got his stick on it for a beautiful tip, scoring his second goal of the season, quietly reminding the coaching staff that he belonged in the lineup.

NOAH PHILP HAS GOALS IN BACK-TO-BACK GAMES!

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/GYcLcYRjpS

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 19, 2025

Now, after seven games, only four Oilers have found the back of the net more than once, and Philp is among them. Which brings us to the question, what could a successful season points-wise look like for the centerman?

He’s off to a good start, but he’s not going to maintain the goal-every-second-game pace that he’s currently on. Yet, when projecting a points total, we can use another former Oiler and U of A Golden Bear, Derek Ryan — who was also a right-shot centerman and retired early last month — as a comparison. Over his four seasons playing in Oil Country, Ryan averaged 10:32 of ice time, while Philp, in a small four-game sample, is playing slightly more at 11:49 per game.

Ryan averaged 14 points a season over his four seasons in Edmonton, with eight being the low and 22 the high. Of course, Ryan had veteran savvy, but I think Philp’s youth and size can help balance that out when it comes to producing points. Also, by the eye test, Philp looks like he’s playing with more assertiveness — for instance, against the Red Wings he lowered his shoulder and drove the net, while also holding onto pucks longer in the offensive zone against the Ottawa Senators, in comparison to last season, when he was just dipping his toes in the water and getting up to speed.

Considering all that, and given the strong start Philp has had to the season already (while also factoring in the inevitable periods of lulls), a successful season would see him match Ryan’s 20 points from the 2022-23 campaign — say, a 10-goal, 10-assist season for the 27-year-old. Moreover, with the hand-eye coordination he flashed on that beautiful, tipped tally against Detroit last Sunday, and given the team’s recent power play struggles, if the Oilers decide to do a PP shake-up, why not give Philp a few looks on the top unit standing in front of the net tipping pucks? He checks some boxes: big, a right shot, and one of 10 Oilers who’ve found their scoring touch this season.

Play a Solid Two-Way Game​

A 20-point campaign would go a long way toward a successful season points-wise for the centerman. But even if he doesn’t hit that plateau, at the very least, while playing in the bottom six, he’ll need to hold his own defensively and prove he can be relied on to play a solid two-way game.

Bottom-six centermen don’t need to find the back of the net every single night. However, if his line isn’t scoring, at minimum, his job is to ensure the other team doesn’t at 5v5. He didn’t get on the scoresheet last game against the Senators, but he made a solid defensive play in the first period — scooping up a loose puck in his own end, carrying it out with poise, and drawing a slashing penalty that led to an Oilers goal on the ensuing man advantage.

Noah Philp is a smart player, always makes the responsible play good defensively and chips in some offense as well. He should never be scratched another game.

— Dyl (@dhockey13) October 21, 2025

Additionally, Philp has posted strong faceoff numbers early in the season, and he’s currently 57.1% on the dot. Against the Sens, with the score tied 2-2 and seven minutes remaining in the game, he was trusted to take a defensive zone draw. He won it, which was a small but telling moment that could earn him more trust in key situations.

Adding a Little Toughness Could Be a Big Bonus for the Oilers​

The Oilers gutted out an OT win over Ottawa last game, but overall, they were missing a few key elements for most of their recent five-game road trip, like execution, attention to detail in the defensive zone, and oh yeah, the big one — scoring goals. When those areas aren’t firing, especially scoring, one thing the team can rally around to kickstart a pulse into the club is team toughness. It may be an old-school type of approach, but as we’ve seen in previous seasons, when things aren’t going right, a pack mentality combined with toughness can at least help the team work its way out of a slump.

Former Oiler Corey Perry mixed things up last season when things weren’t going right or when his team wasn’t in the game. Trent Frederic, who might be experiencing a bit of an identity crisis due to his first-line opportunity to start the season, was re-signed long-term to provide the same toughness element, but we haven’t necessarily seen it yet. That said, I feel there’s room for Philp to carve out a little gritty niche, and while he’s not expected to, it’s an element he shouldn’t be afraid to show.

At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, the usually soft-spoken 27-year-old has a sneaky tough side to him. Our friends over at hockeyfights.com show that Philp has fought three times in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors since 2022. Watching each one, the common theme was that he was defending a teammate who had taken a bad hit along the boards — Philp stepped in and dropped the gloves to stand up for them, with the most recent being a spirited affair last December against 6-foot-4, 231-pound Mason Geertsen, who is now with the Buffalo Sabres. That shows Philp shouldn’t be afraid to mix it up after the whistles every so often, because he can certainly throw ’em and isn’t afraid to back it up.

Philp’s M.O. isn’t to play a mean style of game, but with players like Perry and Evander Kane gone, the Oilers have fewer players who like to bring the extra-curricular activity after the whistle, and I’d imagine the coaching staff is waiting for someone to step up in that department. Overall, if he puts up 20 points this season, plays a strong two-way game, and adds a little bit of nastiness, the “Philp” you’ll see in the stands moving forward will be the one on the backs of fans’ jerseys, not in the press box.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/what-is-successful-2025-26-season-edmonton-oilers-noah-philp

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

How Stuart Skinner compares to other goalies who reached 100 wins with the Oilers

With a 3-2 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators earlier this week, Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner became the sixth netminder in team history to reach the 100-win mark.

Born in Edmonton, the Oilers drafted the 26-year-old 78th overall in the 2017 draft from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. After another season in junior and two full seasons in the minor leagues, Skinner made his National Hockey League debut in 2020-21. This was his first win, but he allowed five goals on 38 shots in his one and only NHL game that season.

Skinner played most of the 2021-22 season in the American Hockey League, but played 13 games with the Oilers, where he picked up six wins. During the 2022 off-season, the Oilers went out and signed Jack Campbell, which yielded less-than-ideal results.

Campbell’s struggles accelerated Skinner’s development, making him the team’s number one after just 14 games. Skinner went on to win 29 games that season, followed by 36 during the 2023-24 season, and 26 in 2024-25. Through five games in 2025-26, he’s won two games and is looking good between the pipes.

The question is, who are the other five netminders, and how did their Oilers careers go?

Grant Fuhr​

Grant Fuhr is undoubtedly the best netminder in the Oilers’ franchise history. Fuhr was the main netminder during the dynasty season, totalling four Stanley Cups while also being a part of the 1990 Oilers (more on that in a bit).

Drafted eighth overall in the 1981 draft, the Spruce Grove native played 10 seasons with the Oilers, accumulating 226 wins, along with 117 losses and 54 overtime losses or ties. In the modern day, his .883 save percentage doesn’t look great, but most of Fuhr’s seasons as an Oilers were spent in the high-scoring 80s.

On top of four Stanley Cups, Fuhr won the Vezina once in 1988 and finished as a runner-up three more times. He also earned Hart votes in the 1987-88 season, as he posted an .881 save percentage and 3.43 goals against average in 75 games.

The netminder was traded shortly before the start of the 1991-92 season, alongside Glenn Anderson and Craig Berube. Fuhr went on to play nine more seasons, retiring after the 1999-2000 season. In 2003, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Bill Ranford​

Fuhr missed a large chunk of the 1989-90 season, with Bill Ranford filling in. Ranford was nothing short of spectacular in the 1990 postseason, posting a .912 save percentage in 22 games en route to the Oilers’ fifth Stanley Cup (and their most recent until 2026, hopefully).

Ranford was acquired in a trade before the 1988 trade deadline from the Boston Bruins for another goaltender we’ll discuss soon. The netminder served as a backup to Fuhr in his first two seasons, but took over the reins in 1990-91, where he earned his only All-Star nod.

The Brandon, Manitoba native spent parts of 10 seasons with the Oilers, posting an .887 save percentage and 3.51 goals against average in 449 games. He accumulated 167 wins, along with 193 losses and 54 overtime losses/ties.

Ranford was traded back to the Bruins during the 1995-96 season and played for the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Detroit Red Wings over the next three seasons. The netminder returned to the Oilers in 1999-2000, playing 16 games where he had a 4-6-3 record, before retiring shortly after.

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Tommy Salo​

During the 1999-2000 season, Ranford served as the backup to Tommy Salo, one of the most underrated netminders in Oilers’ history. Drafted 118th overall by the New York Islanders, the Oilers traded Mats Lindgren and a pick in the 1999 draft to acquire him in March of 1999.

In his first full season with the Oilers, Salo posted a .914 save percentage and 2.33 goals against average in 70 games played, finishing the year with a 27-28-13 record. That season, he made the All-Star game and finished sixth in Vezina voting.

He followed up the 1999-2000 campaign with another solid year in 2000-01, where he had a 36-25-12 record and .904 save percentage, finishing seventh in Vezina voting. Salo earned his way to his second All-Star Game in 2001-02, posting a .913 save percentage in 69 games with a 30-28-10 record.

Unfortunately, Salo’s play slipped in 2002-03, managing to pick up 29 wins, but finishing with a sub-.900 save percentage for the first time in his Oilers career. After 44 games in 2003-04, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche and made just five more appearances in the NHL.

With the Oilers, Salo had a 147-128-51 record in 333 games, with a .906 save percentage and 2.44 goals against average. What could’ve been if he hadn’t allowed that long-ranged goal in the 2002 Olympics?

Andy Moog​

Circling back to the aforementioned Ranford trade, the Oilers sent Andy Moog to the Bruins in return for Ranford. Drafted in the seventh round of the 1980 draft, Moog is one of three Oilers’ netminders with 100 wins that was drafted by the team.

The Penticton, British Columbia native played 15 games between his first two seasons, before playing 50 games in the 1982-83 season. That year, Moog finished with a 33-8-7 record, finishing fifth in Vezina voting.

His playing time decreased in 1983-84, playing 38 games with a 27-8-1 record. Moog played a similar number of games in the 1984-85 season, finishing the season with a 22-9-3 record. The netminder finished seventh in Vezina voting and was a first-time All-Star.

Moog was also an All-Star in 1985-86, playing 47 games where he had a 27-9-7 record, finishing eighth in Vezina voting. His final season with the Oilers was in 1986-87, where he once again finished eighth in Vezina voting thanks to a 28-11-3 record, the lone season as an Oiler where he had double-digit losses.

In seven years with the Oilers, Moog had a 143-53-21 record. He played six seasons with the Bruins, four with the Dallas Stars, and one with the Montréal Canadiens, finishing his career after the 1997-98 season.

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Cam Talbot​

All four of the goalies already mentioned are intertwined in a way. Fuhr is their best goalie, but Ranford took over for him and even won a Conn Smythe for his performance in the 1990 postseason. Ranford was acquired from the Bruins in exchange for Moog, who was Fuhr’s prior backup. When Ranford returned to the Oilers late in his career, he backed up Tommy Salo.

There’s no link to Cam Talbot. After Salo’s departure, the Oilers were left searching for a netminder, eventually landing on Dwayne Roloson. While Roloson didn’t reach 100 wins with the Oilers, he did help lead them to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final before his injury.

After Roloson, the Oilers signed Nikolai Khabibulin, who didn’t work out well for them. By this time, Devan Dubnyk was playing well and earned the starter role, until he struggled to start the 2013-14 season and was promptly traded, a very poor decision, even at the time.

The Oilers experimented with five other netminders in 2013-14, an incredibly fascinating season for the Oilers. After another season of trying to find their goalie, they finally pulled the trigger on a netminder at the 2015 draft, acquiring Cam Talbot.

Talbot posted a .917 save percentage in his first season as an Oiler, a .919 save percentage in his second season, and a .908 save percentage in his third season. Unfortunately, Talbot struggled in 2018-19, where he had an .893 save percentage before the Oilers shipped him off to the Philadelphia Flyers for Anthony Stolarz.

In 227 games with the Oilers, Talbot finished with 104 wins, 95 losses, and 19 overtime losses. His .912 save percentage as an Oiler is the second-highest for any Oiler netminder with 20 or more games played.

Talbot’s best season by far was in 2016-17, because on top of a .919 save percentage, the netminder played 73 games and finished fourth in Vezina voting. Now 38 years old, Talbot is still active as he plays with the Detroit Red Wings.

Notable goalies without 100 wins as an Oiler​

The netminder with the highest save percentage as an Oiler with more than 20 games played is Mike Smith. Unfortunately, Smith finished with just 56 wins in the 99 games he played. Mikko Koskinen spent time as his backup, and he finished with 83 wins, the seventh-most in Oilers history.

Roloson was the last player born in the 1960s to play in the NHL, and he finished his Oilers’ career with 78 regular season wins in 193 games played. Curtis Joseph is another notable Oilers’ netminder who didn’t finish with 100 wins with the team, finishing with just 76 in 177 games with the Oilers.

In 171 games, Dubnyk finished with 61 wins and a .910 save percentage, the third-highest for any Oilers’ netminder with 20 games played for the team. I can’t emphasize just how poor the decision was to trade him, even at the time.

Lastly, current Oiler Calvin Pickard ranks 12th in all-time Oiler wins, as he’s won 35 games as an Oiler in 61 games.

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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/how-s...ther-goalies-reached-100-wins-edmonton-oilers

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Real Life Podcast: Jays in the World Series, the NBA scandal, and the Oilers take on the Habs

Thursday afternoon means a fresh episode of Real Life was recorded, edited, and is ready to help you wrap up the week. On today’s podcast, the guys discussed the World Series, cruise ships, Oilers vs. Habs, and much more.

The guys kicked off the Thursday episode of Real Life with a look ahead at the World Series after Tyler walked into the studio wearing his new hoodie to commemorate the occasion. Not only did everyone want to hear about his experience for Game 7, but they also wanted to know what it was like to sit in a stadium that was going absolutely bananas. As you’ll hear, Tyler had plenty of stories from being at Skydome that were very exciting and entirely understandable, which only fuelled everyone’s excitement for Friday.

From there, the discussion somehow shifted to cruise ships. How did the podcast get to cruises? No one knows for sure, but the conversation gave Chalmers the chance to talk about how much he loves them. After winding through his honeymoon cruise story, the podcast eventually turned into a discussion about the NBA’s betting scandal that broke on Thursday. While this is certainly a very serious situation, the boys still had a bunch of fun talking about the absurdity of the situation.

Finally, the guys wrapped up the podcast with Thursday episode of Real Life with a random collection of topics, including a look at the Oilers vs. Habs, Vladdy Guerrero Jr’s translator, beefs of the week, intense crowd moments, and whatever else was the boys’ minds at the time. As you’ll hear, the last chunk of the podcast was all over the map, which is what you should almost expect now that the podcast is down to one episode per week.

Listen to the Thursday episode of Real Life below:

Subscribe to the Real Life Podcast for FREE on Spotify here, on Apple Podcasts here, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/real-...e-nba-scandal-and-the-oilers-take-on-the-habs

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Experience Oilers hockey, making Habs fans sad, and David Tomášek’s first NHL goal

After snapping their three-game losing streak on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Edmonton Oilers returned to home ice to face the red-hot Montreal Canadiens. And after 60 minutes of the most ridiculous hockey you could ever imagine, the Oilers locked in a 6-5 victory that was anything but easy to get. There were ups, there were downs, but in the end, what we got was one of the most entertaining games I can remember.

EXPERIENCE OILERS HOCKEY​

That game was pure chaos from start to finish. I don’t even know how else to describe it. The Oilers went from trailing 1–0 to leading 3–1, then gave it all back just as quickly before falling behind 5–3. They went from leading to losing in the span of about eight minutes. At that point, it felt like we were watching yet another collapse unfold in real time, the kind that makes you fight the urge to grab the remote and remember all the other things you could have been doing with your night. And yet, somehow, the Oilers found a way. A Leon Draisaitl power play goal cut the deficit in half, a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins backhand tied it less than a minute later, and then Vasily Podkolzin capped off one of the most ridiculous wins we’ve seen in years. Nothing about it made sense, but I’m not complaining.

Given how the Habs were rolling early, I’ll be honest, I didn’t think Edmonton had the juice to crawl back once they blew that two-goal lead. Most teams would have folded after a meltdown like that, and honestly, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they did. But credit where it’s due, the Oilers didn’t quit. They dug in, cranked up the urgency, started shooting, and turned a disaster into a highlight reel comeback win. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t anything you’d want to replicate, but despite the stress, it was entertaining as hell. And on a night when Montreal fans packed Rogers Place, having the Oilers come back to win like that felt like a gift. I don’t ask for much this early in the season, but stealing two points while sending Habs fans home heartbroken was exactly what the doctor ordered.

SO LONG, HABS FANS​

It’s hard not to be annoyed when the Montreal Canadiens roll into town, you know? Let’s just say that seeing all that red in the crowd and hearing the “ole, oles” at Rogers Place isn’t exactly my favourite. As much as I get the love for an Original Six team, and it’s the same when the Leafs are here, that doesn’t make me want all of their fans to go home sad any less. In fact, I want the Oilers to ruin a night when those fans probably overspent on tickets and/or are pretending they’re not actually Oilers fans in a Habs jersey because they grew up reading The Hockey Sweater. The problem, of course, is that the Habs are good. They’re young, skilled, and playing a brand of hockey built to punish mistakes, and as we all know, the Oilers aren’t exactly keeping it tight these days.

What I didn’t expect, however, was that my dream of the Oilers ruining Habs fans’ night would happen in such dramatic fashion. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the Oilers would build a lead they didn’t really deserve, blow that same lead in the span of 1:52, give up four straight goals, and still come roaring back for a 6–5 comeback win. That might have been one of the craziest finishes I’ve ever seen. Nothing about that game made sense, but what I can say for certain is that it fills my heart with joy knowing everyone in a Montreal jersey just had their heart ripped out in spectacular fashion. Watching the Canadiens lose like that had to be more painful than anything I could have cooked up, and for that, I thank the Hockey Gords for answering my prayers with such creativity.

DAVID TOMÁŠEK’S FIRST NHL GOAL​

David Tomášek has had roughly a thousand chances to score so far this season, and it was kind of the Hockey Gords to finally reward him, even if his first NHL goal came off a friendly bounce. He didn’t even know he was the one who scored, but it was another reminder that a shooter’s mentality is a thing that actually works, and they might even like it. It wasn’t one of his many point-blank opportunities that got him on the board, just a couple of bounces that beat Sam Montembeault before he could adjust. The point? Good things happen when you shoot the puck. Call it luck or whatever you want, but I sure wish the rest of the team were as willing to fire pucks through traffic. Sometimes it works out.

For a guy coming off a scoring title in the Swedish league last year, it had to feel good to finally get something on the scoresheet, even if the goal was anything but pretty. There are a few guys gripping the stick a little tightly right now, and Tomášek was definitely among them. While no one expects him to match the 24 goals he scored in 47 games last year with Färjestad BK Karlstad, the Oilers need him to chip in from time to time if he’s going to keep his spot in the lineup. So far, he’s done a solid job of creating looks for himself, but the goals haven’t followed. Maybe getting a lucky one can spark some confidence. The instincts are clearly there, and now we’ll have to wait and see how much finish he has at this level. Can a fortunate bounce be the spark he needed? We’ll see.

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Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/exper...-canadiens-fans-david-tomaseks-first-nhl-goal

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Oilersnation Radio: Oilers win in the most stressful way possible feat. Erik Sabrowski

It’s Friday afternoon, which means a fresh episode of Oilersnation Radio is ready to massage your eardrums with an hour of off-season Oilers talk. On today’s podcast, the fellas discussed the Oilers two recent wins, some recent milestones on the roster, David Tomasek’s first NHL goal, line combos, and much more.

We kicked off the Friday episode of ONR with a delicious debate about whether the boys felt the Oilers had the refs on their side as they did last night against Montreal. While there was some debate about the penalties called, no one on the podcast felt the Oilers had an unfair advantage because the Habs couldn’t kill penalties. The main point is that Edmonton took advantage of its opportunities, whereas the Canadiens could not.

Continuing with the breakdown of these last two wins, we looked at the issues that are preventing the Oilers from running the show, and most of them are self-inflicted. The good news is that the team is still finding ways to win even with these glaring issues standing in their way. That said, being as sloppy as the Oilers have been isn’t exactly the smartest strategy unless the goal is to live in the land of mediocrity.

Finally, we wrapped up the Friday episode of ONR with another round of Ask the Idiots, betting talk for our friends at bet365, and Hot and Cold Performers to look back on the week. With the 2025-26 season well underway, the guys spent the bulk of the Friday episode discussing a range of topics, some related to the Oilers and others not, but that’s what happens at this stage of a new campaign.

Listen to the Friday episode of Oilersnation Radio below:

Subscribe to Oilersnation Radio for FREE on Soundcloud here, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts from!

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/oiler...st-stressful-way-possible-feat-erik-sabrowski

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

GDB 9.0: Oilers hit the road for back-to-back weekend starting in Seattle (8 PM MT, CBC)

Thursday’s win against Montreal felt like watching two different hockey teams wearing the same jerseys. For forty-ish minutes, the Oilers looked flat, careless, and completely disconnected. The passing was off, the mistakes piled up, and it felt like we were about to sit through another one of those nights where self-inflicted wounds ruined the result. Then, thanks to some timely goals on the power play, the switch flipped in a big way. The boys woke up, the offence exploded, and somehow we walked out of that mess with a 6–5 comeback win that felt equal parts relief and disbelief.

Now the Oilers are in Seattle, where the ask is simple: keep the good vibes rolling and prove they don’t need comeback heroics to win hockey games. Through the first eight contests, the Oilers sit at 4-3-1, and that record feels exactly like how they’ve looked on the ice — decent, often messy, flashes of brilliance, but nowhere close to a finished product. They’ve scored 24 goals and allowed 25, which is a pretty clear indication that there are cracks in the foundation that need to be fixed. The power play (28.0%) is doing its part, the penalty kill (81%) has been fine, and they’re averaging three goals for and against per night, but we all know there’s more there. Not dominant, not awful, but nowhere near the potential we know they can hit.

What needs to happen next is for the offence to get themselves going. There are so many good players on this roster, but too many of those same names are struggling to find the back of the net with any consistency or even at all. The bright side is that the top six is starting to click with the big boys heating up a little more, but we’ll need more than the usual suspects contributing with regularity. Guys like Andrew Mangiapane (3G), Adam Henrique (2G), Jake Walman (1G, 2A), Noah Philp (2G), and David Tomasek (1G, 1A) have chipped in, but we still need a whole lot more from the bottom six. If or when that next wave of goals hits, this team could start looking like the juggernaut we’ve been waiting for.

That said, Seattle is not going to make this easy. The Kraken are 4-2-2, allowing 2.75 goals per game, and are backstopped by one of the league’s best team save percentages at even strength with a sparkling .933. Regardless of where they end up when the season is done, Seattle is playing well right now, and beating them won’t be a layup. Put another way, the Oilers need to figure out how to score at 5v5. Lane Lambert has Seattle playing a structured, frustrating game that limits time and space, which is not exactly ideal for a team that’s struggle with puck management. If they want to win, the boys need to bring energy and pace early before Seattle has the chance to drag things into the mud. The Kraken are built to capitalize on mistakes, and the Oilers can’t keep giving the puck up like they’re running gift shop.

At five-on-five, the numbers tell a story of two teams still figuring it out. The Oilers are carrying a 47.23% expected goals share, while the Kraken sit at 45.99%, which tells you neither side is exactly lighting it up at even strength. That suggests the difference tonight will likely come down to execution on special teams and whichever side makes the fewest errors. If the Oilers want to build off their last two wins, they’ll need to take steps forward with a more complete outing because they can’t expect to win regularly being as sloppy as they’ve been. The effort we saw in the third period against Montreal needs to become the baseline, not the exception. You can’t keep waiting until you’re down a couple of goals before deciding to flip the switch. Start on time, play simple, and get the job done.

Get the win, keep the streak alive, and head into Vancouver tomorrow feeling like the tide is finally starting to turn.

Let’s see what the numbers say…

THE NUMBERS​

OILERS	KRAKEN
RECORD	4-3-1	4-2-2
WIN/LOSS STREAK	W2	W1
GOALS FOR	24	26
GOALS AGAINST	25	25
POWER PLAY%	28.0	21.7
PENALTY KILL%	81.0	71.4
GOALS FOR/GAME	3.00	2.75
GOALS AGAINST/GAME	3.00	2.75
AVG. SHOTS/FOR	28.6	25.8
AVG. SHOTS/AGAINST	23.5	28.9
TEAM SAVE%	.901	.933
CORSI FOR%	47.87	44.92
PDO	0.976	1.017
TEAM SHOOTING%	7.51	8.39
EXPECTED GOALS FOR%	47.23	45.99

Numbers courtesy of Natural Stat Trick (Sv%, CF%, PDO, Shooting%, xGF% all at 5×5)

• The Oilers went 3-1-0 against the Seattle Kraken last season, and it would be pretty sweet if they could find a way to own a Pacific Division rival like that again in 2025-26. Stretch the view out a little bit, the Oilers have won their nine of their last 10 games against Seattle.
• The Kraken are returning home after spending the last five games on the road but are still 2-0-0 on home ice. Historically, the Kraken are 2-6-0 vs. Edmonton in Seattle and 3-11-1 overall vs. the Oilers.
• Leon Draisaitl has recorded multi-point games in nine of 12 career games versus the Kraken. His career 2.17 points-per-game against Seattle is his highest points-per-game vs. any team in his career. Meanwhile, Connor McDavid has recorded a point in 11 of his 13 career games played versus Seattle. (8G, 11A).
• Stuart Skinner has won his last six starts against Seattle.
• Jaden Schwartz enters tonight’s game with goals in back-to-back games for a total of four points (3G, 1A).
• Standings watching already? The Oilers are sitting in fourth in the Pacific Division behind Vegas, Seattle, and Anaheim. We’ll be doing banner watch all season, people.

LINEUPS…​

Oilers​

Howard – McDavid – Mangiapane
Savoie – Draisaitl – Podkolzin
Henrique – Nugent-Hopkins – Roslovic
Tomasek – Philp – Frederic

Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Walman
Kulak – Emberson

Skinner

After Thursday’s game, Kris Knoblauch said that he plans to keep the lines that finished the game (above) as the ones he’ll use tonight in Seattle. Colour me skeptical. We all saw the graphic where the Oilers have used 21 different line combos through the first eight games, and I have my doubts he’ll be able to resist the urge to tinker for more than a shift or two.

Kraken​

Catton – Beniers – Eberle
Marchment -Stephenson – Tolvanen
Schwartz – Wright – Nyman
Kartye – Meyers – Winterton

Dunn -Larsson
Mahura – Oleksiak
Lindgren – Fleury

Daccord

The Seattle Kraken’s offence has been led early by Jaden Schwartz, who sits atop the team with eight points through eight games. Jordan Eberle and Shane Wright have both chipped in five points apiece, while Vince Dunn continues to be an anchor on the blue line with five points of his own. Meanwhile, Jared McCann and Mason Marchment each have four points, rounding out a balanced forward group that’s getting contributions from multiple lines rather than relying on any specific players. They have guys chipping in all over the lineup, and the Oilers will need to find a way to deal with that.

TONIGHT…​

GDB Evan Bouchard Edmonton Oilers photoshop by Tom Kostiuk

Game Day Prediction: Thursday’s comeback win over Montreal gave the Oilers confidence, and they use it to rally from another two-goal deficit en route to a 5-3 win.

Obvious Game Day Prediction: The Oilers’ power play is starting to heat up, and Leon Draisaitl benefits with a big PP goal.

Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: Outside of the predicted power play goal by Draisaitl, the other four will be scored by defencemen.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/game-...-back-weekend-starting-seattle-kraken-8pm-cbc

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Sunday Scramble: The theft of the Nordiques, Flames keep losing, and more NHL notes

Since we’re so close to Halloween, do you remember the internet phrase going around a few years ago? My culture is not your costume.

Looking back at this week in hockey, you’d have thought we took a time travel machine back to the old days of the Adams Division. The Colorado Avalanche donning the fleur-de-lis Quebec Nordiques sweaters, and the Carolina Hurricanes wearing the Hartford Whaler white and green.

I won’t mince words here — I hate it.

The @Canes and @Avalanche donned beautiful retro Whalers and Nordiques uniforms for tonight's matchup!

Read more about this nostalgic night in Denver https://t.co/4mhHmwVpSE pic.twitter.com/XyUcT0mGUy

— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) October 24, 2025

The Avalanche announced the dates they’ll go full Nordique this year, no longer using the modified reverse retro mix of Nordique crest but with Avs colours, oh no, going full unadulterated theft of the uniform.

Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes — bereft of good-looking sweaters themselves — have habitually gone full Whaler green once or twice a year, pulling on nostalgia heartstrings with the looks of two of hockey’s greatest uniforms.

In fact, on the Avalanche broadcast scorebug, they labelled the teams as QUE-HFD, confusing the audience under seven years old.

And the jerseys are great! This is not a criticism of arguably the best-designed jerseys in all of sports — it’s about a cynical cash grab from these two organizations focused purely on making money.

Let’s stitch MacKinnon on the back of this Nordique sweater and sell a million of them. It’s sick.

Now you might say that my overreaction is overblown. It’s about having fun, Michael, over the course of a long, monotonous 82-game season. What’s the harm in wearing cool jerseys every once in a while? It’s harmless.

I don’t care, and fun is overrated.

I can only put myself in the shoes of a Quebec Nordiques fan, and this is how I’d feel:

Isn’t it enough that our franchise was taken from us after a long, hard rebuild through the early 1990s, and literally won the Stanley Cup the very season after they moved out of Quebec City?

Isn’t it enough knowing that the National Hockey League teases us every few years, knowing full well we’ll never get our team again because of the economic, cultural, and linguistic differences that exist in our city?

Isn’t it enough that one of the greatest prospects of all-time Eric Lindros shunned and embarrassed us at the 1991 NHL Draft, refusing to wear our jersey and ever come to our team?

Isn’t it enough that we dealt with poor management and ownership from O’Keefe’s Brewing Company that led to our departure?

Isn’t it enough that we hated the Habs, produced perhaps the greatest rivalry of the 1980s, and now after 30 years, are given this stupid reminder of the team we lost, a theft of our beautiful jersey, our Francophone pride, our unique place in the game, all so the Colorado Avalanche who reside in Denver can make more money?

I’ve read some opinions from Nordiques fans that have had their bitter feelings tempered and don’t mind it. I’ve seen a lot of general hockey fans who hate the idea of it, too.

It feels wrong. I can live with a modified colour scheme that leaves the logo alone.

But a full-on theft of colour, logo, everything? Criminal.

If the Colorado Avalanche were so interested in a 30th anniversary “homage” recognizing their roots and all that corporate buzzword nonsense, they’d have retired the four Nordiques numbers: 3 (J.C. Tremblay), 8 (Marc Tardif), 16 (Michel Goulet), and 21 (Peter Stastny).

Will Makar wear Tardif on the back of his sweater?

But that would be silly, having jersey numbers retired for players who didn’t play in that city. That exactly is my point, the Avalanche, just like the Hurricanes, wants it both ways.

And by the way, for the jersey retirement idea being so silly, that did happen. Dale Hawerchuk had his number retired by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2007.

Bizarre jersey retirements are preferable compared to new costumes for modern teams to soak money from. That at least honours great players for their franchise, which can be forgotten once a team relocates.

The Avalanche will costume these uniforms six more times, including when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 29. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Habs didn’t want the Nordiques uniform at the Bell Centre to prevent any further resentments and keep the flames of the Good Friday Massacre far at bay.

Maybe my hang-up is that the Edmonton Oilers have faced similar economic challenges over their history, and were it not for major efforts in the final hour by Cal Nichols and the Oilers Investor Group, they could’ve lost the team to Houston.

Also, it was 30 years ago. It could be time to say c’est la vie. I wouldn’t, though.

For the aesthetically minded​

What this jersey scenario did showcase is how dull modern hockey jersey culture is as a whole.

For example, rarely do we see two teams play with their colour jerseys. It is universally colour vs. white. Or more often than not, black vs white.

The fascination of black as the default jersey colour of the past 20-25 years is such a lifeless choice. There are good ones, don’t get me wrong. The Los Angeles Kings’ black “Chevy” jerseys are terrific. But by and large, there is a lot of dull colour.

The Nordiques blue vs the Whaler green. Beautiful.

I’d fully endorse the NHL encouraging more colour-vs-colour jersey matchups in their games. Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News even tweeted this was a possibility in the new CBA back in February, but I haven’t seen any new reporting since.

Plus, it is my long-standing contention that the home team should wear white. Hockey Night in Canada, the once proud institution, suggested this idea in 1970, and it stuck until 2003-04.

The reasoning for the change to the current way of white as away jerseys was consistency and the rise of alternate jerseys.

But as a fan, wouldn’t it be far more interesting to see 31 other colour/dark jerseys come into your barn? To me, that brings life and style to the forefront consistently, as opposed to always seeing your home team’s dark jersey and always seeing white in some fashion.

Now, a white-out is actually feasible. It is hilarious that the Winnipeg Jets have continued the tradition of the playoff white-out, as their team is NOT WEARING WHITE. The fans are wearing the same colour as the team they are rooting against. Silliness. Switch it back.

Additionally, I understand that white needs to be involved as a major colour for jerseys because colour vs. colour all the time can lead to confusion with teams having the same dark colour sweater.

But the ice is white as well. Teams are consistently playing in uniforms the same colour as the surface, which does not allow for as much aesthetic pop.

For example, the Winter Classic images of the Toronto Maple Leafs vs the Detroit Red Wings in 2014 are evidence alone that we are dismissing opportunities for more beauty in the game. These things don’t have to be a one-off.

So there, I don’t hate all fun.

OVER 105,000 IN ATTENDANCE!

Yeah, the 2014 #WinterClassic was historic.

Catch the 2022 #WinterClassic between the @mnwild and @StLouisBlues on Jan. 1 at 7p ET on @NHL_On_TNT and @Sportsnet. pic.twitter.com/D0edH3pFnF

— NHL (@NHL) December 25, 2021

The Stone Infirmary​

Mark Stone on LTIR? You mean that Mark Stone? Mark Stone from the Vegas Golden Knights? On Long-Term-Injured-Reserved? Nooo. Really? Mark Stone? I don’t believe it. You’re kidding me, right? Mark Stone. You’re telling me that Mark Stone is on LTIR?!

(I wrote Mark Stone so many times that the words have no meaning.)

In all seriousness, Stone was off to a fantastic start with 13 points in six games, but cannot sustain health for any prolonged period of time. This injury doesn’t even help Vegas pull LTIR shenanigans.

You have to wonder with Stone how much more his body can take. I don’t doubt his injuries. For a 33-year-old, it seems the man is grizzled beyond his 712 games. It’s a blow for the VGK, but they are used to playing without him.

Listed as week-to-week, Stone must miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days.

Notes:​

• Calgary losing streak counter: eight games. Sources are suggesting that a parade may occur after Friday night’s game, where the team scored a whole three goals! And no, it’s not relevant to bring up that the Flames’ lone win this year against the Oilers. They’d be winless…classic Oilers.
• Nikita Kucherov scored his 1000th (and 1001st) point on Saturday, as the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning got a much-needed victory versus the Anaheim Ducks. Kucherov achieved the feat in 809 games, the third fastest for active players, only behind Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. He’s the 6th Russian to ever do it, putting his name beside the likes of Ovechkin, Malkin, Federov, Mogilny, and Kovalev. Simply put, he’s one of the best Russian hockey players of all time.
• Where does Patrik Laine’s career go from here? The 27-year-old is set to miss three to four months after a core muscle injury, and you have to wonder if he will ever be the guy who can be a reliable presence on an NHL team. From the physical side to the mental health struggles, Laine has gone through the ringer. It’s safe to say his days of commanding $8.7 million annually are done. But man, is he ever skilled. Laine can shoot the puck. After his sophomore season tallying up 44 tucks, I thought we were about to witness the next Ovechkin-esque goalscorer in the NHL. Now, playing 44 games in a season is a challenge of its own.
• Alex Ovechkin played his 1500th game with the Washington Capitals on Saturday. He’s the 24th NHLer to ever play that many games and the eighth to play that many with the same franchise. The others? Gordie Howe, Patrick Marleau, Nicklas Lidstrom, Alex Delvecchio, Shane Doan, Ray Bourque, and Steve Yzerman.
• How much money is Logan Cooley going to cost the Utah Mammoth? A first-period natural hat-trick vs the St. Louis Blues, plus a two-goal period against the Minnesota Wild, and Cooley has seven of his 10 points in the last two games. By the way, the Mammoth are 7-2. After a long rebuild through the Coyotes, the Mammoth are starting to reap the rewards.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/sunda...nordiques-flames-continue-lose-more-nhl-notes

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Oilers rally in third period before falling to Canucks in overtime: Recap, Highlights, and Reaction

At least they got a point?

On Sunday evening, the Edmonton Oilers played the second game of their Pacific Coast weekend back-to-back, falling 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks and moving to 4-4-2 for the season. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one.

With just under five minutes left in the first period, the Canucks opened the scoring. Former Oiler Evander Kane made a nice little pass to Brock Boeser for the breakaway. The long-time Canuck made no mistake on the backhand for the opening goal.

Brock Boeser gives the Canucks a 1-0 lead.

:@Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/padnauWvnS

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 27, 2025

Just over two and a half minutes into the second period, the Canucks extended their lead to two. Filip Hronek found Elias Pettersson (the forward) in the faceoff dot, allowing him to fire it home to make it 2-0.

Elias Pettersson gives the Canucks a 2-0 lead on the power play

: @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/5h48SzZ9NT

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 27, 2025

With about three and a half minutes left in the second, Evan Bouchard made a terrific pass to Leon Draisaitl at the Canucks’ blue line. That led to a breakaway, and the reigning Rocket Richard winner buried it to give the Oilers hope.

What a pass from Bouchard and Draisaitl scores to cut the lead to 2-1!

: @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/eDyihEqT1T

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 27, 2025

That hope was dampered in the final minute of the second period, as Kiefer Sherwood undressed Mattias Ekholm, giving him a breakaway and a goal to put the Canucks up 3-1.

Just like that the Canucks score and make it a 3-1 game with goal from Kiefer Sherwood

: @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/vfMWwATdT9

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 27, 2025

The Oilers got back into it, though. Vasily Podkolzin did a great job of winning the puck in the offensive zone, with it ending up on Jack Roslovic’s stick. From the faceoff dot, Roslovic was able to fire it past Thatcher Demko for his first as an Oiler.

Oilers cut the lead to 3-2 with Jack Roslovic's first as an Edmonton Oiler

: @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/SgjbLQ6qRs

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 27, 2025

On a power play with about five minutes left in the game, the Oilers tied it. Connor McDavid found Draisaitl with a cross-seam pass, giving the German centre his second of the game. Unfortunately, the Canucks won it in overtime thanks to Sherwood’s second.

LEON DRAISAITL TIES THE GAME ON THE POWERPLAY 3-3!

: @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/ik7xEJtmyn

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 27, 2025

Takeaways…​

The Oilers were the better team once again, finishing with 12 high-danger chances to the Canucks’ five. Still, it feels as if they were lucky to get a point out of it, as they were down two in the third period.

This was a nice bounce-back game from Evan Bouchard. His assist on the first goal was a thing of beauty, and it was a strong defensive game for the right-shot defenceman. Interestingly, he was paired with Darnell Nurse for a significant chunk of the game, which worked well. Mattias Ekholm was paired with Jake Walman, while Ty Emberson and Brett Kulak remained on the same pairing.

Leon Draisaitl played alongside Jack Roslovic and Vasily Podkolzin for nearly 13 minutes of five-on-five play. That’s a line to look forward to moving forward, as is playing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Andrew Mangiapane alongside Connor McDavid.

It wasn’t a strong game for Calvin Pickard, as the backup netminder finished with an .852 save percentage, stopping 23 of 27 shots. Defence needs to be better, but so too do the netminders.

Next up for the Oilers, they’ll return home to host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday at 9:30 PM ET. After a win on Sunday, the Mammoth are 8-2-0 and are on a seven-game win streak.

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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/edmon...er-canucks-overtime-recap-highlights-reaction

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Has Jack Roslovic done enough to stick with the Oilers?

Things haven’t been the best for the Edmonton Oilers in the early stages of this season.

The offence has been sputtering, the defence has been shaky, and the team is playing just well enough to stick around in games. A litany of new players has arrived in Alberta’s capital this fall, and while there’s no denying the team is feeling the effects of going deep in the playoffs year after year, they’re also feeling the effects of a lack of chemistry.

One of those new players is Jack Roslovic, signed days into the regular season after struggling to find a hockey home throughout the summer. The contract was cheap, and there was hope he would be able to add a five-on-five scoring touch the team needed, and on Sunday night, that finally came to be, scoring a big goal early in the third period helping the team mount a comeback against the Canucks.

Sniping a shot past Thatcher Demko wasn’t all he did well that game, though, as he added an assist on Leon Draisaitl’s first of two that night, as well as taking four shots on goal of his own. He skated alongside Draisatil and Vasily Podkolzin as the line were strong Sunday night, scoring twice at five-on-five, and controlling the pace of play for most of the night.

Oilers cut the lead to 3-2 with Jack Roslovic's first as an Edmonton Oiler

: @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/SgjbLQ6qRs

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) October 27, 2025

---

When Roslovic signed his one-year, $1.5-million contract, it came with a curious full no-movement clause. While the clause itself wasn’t curious given the Oilers’ willingness to hand them out in recent years, the fine print of it is what caught my eye. On November 1st, Roslovic will submit a four-team trade list to the Oilers.

It was easy to take it as a sign that the deal was effectively a one-month tryout with the team. If things worked out, great — the Oilers have a useful top-nine winger who has put up points in the past. If not, then the Oilers have a way to clear up a roster spot, and Roslovic still gets to play in the NHL, so long as one of those four teams is interested in acquiring him.

Sunday’s performance was a good sign that things are starting to click, and through eight games with the Oilers, it’s hard to find a reason the Oilers shouldn’t keep him around.

It’s an extremely small sample size, of course, but the Oilers have been dominant with him on the ice. In 117 five-on-five minutes, the Oilers have outscored the opposition 5-2 with him on the ice, controlling 54.1 percent of the shot attempt share and 53.5 percent of the expected goal share. Those on-ice metrics are impressive, considering he, much like other Oilers, has bounced between lines for much of the season.

But one forward he’s especially had success with is Draisaitl. Of Roslovic’s 117 minutes, 35 have been with Draisaitl, with them outscoring the opposition 4-0, controlling 55.3 percent of the shot attempt share, 52.5 percent of the expected goal share, and 57.1 percent of the scoring chance share.

Roslovic hasn’t shown well just from a underlying perspective, but an individual one, too. He’s taking 8.7 shots on goal per hour, 2.2 more than his career average, and generating 0.9 individual expected goals per hour, .3 more than his career average. His shot attempt, scoring chance and high-danger scoring chance per hour rates are all above his. career average, too. The sample size, of course, is small, but those are promising numbers considering he’s largely been in a bottom-six role.

These numbers will change as the sample size continues to grow, but all of the early signs make one thing clear: Jumpin’ Jack Flash is here to stay.

---

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/has-jack-roslovic-done-enough-stick-with-edmonton-oilers

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Top 100 Oilers: No. 67 — Roman Hamrlík

Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Roman Hamrlík comes in at No. 67 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 66 on Brownlee’s original list.

The player who best epitomizes the game of musical chairs that defined the late-’90s and early-2000s Oilers has to be Roman Hamrlík.

A small-budget operation during the pre-salary cap era, Edmonton constantly saw quality players come and go because they couldn’t write cheques as large as the league’s richest teams. What helped the Oilers punch above their weight during those years was their knack for making astute moves on the trade market.

Getting two-and-a-half seasons of top-pairing play from Hamrlík and then flipping him for futures was among those impressive maneuvers.

Notable​

The Tampa Bay Lightning held the first overall pick in the 1992 NHL Draft as an expansion franchise and used it to select Roman Hamrlík from ZPS Zlín. The skilled defenceman had led Czechoslovakia to gold medals at the U18 European Junior Championships in both 1991 and 1992, earning Top Defenceman honours in the first of those tournaments.

Hamrlík jumped straight into the NHL as an 18-year-old, posting 21 points in 67 games during his rookie season while the Lightning went 23-54-7 in their inaugural campaign. After a couple of difficult years at the bottom of the standings, Tampa reached the playoffs for the first time in 1995–96. Hamrlík finished second in team scoring with 65 points in 82 games and placed seventh in Norris Trophy voting.

When the Lightning fell back out of contention over the next few seasons, management decided to shake things up. In December 1997, Tampa traded Hamrlík to the Edmonton Oilers along with Paul Comrie in exchange for Jason Bonsignore, Steve Kelly, and Bryan Marchment.

After parts of three seasons in Edmonton, Hamrlík was on the move again, this time to the New York Islanders. He spent four years on Long Island, returned to ZPS Zlín during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, and then signed with the Calgary Flames for the 2006-07 season. His later stops included the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers.

Hamrlík announced his retirement in October 2013 and was inducted into the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame in January 2019. He ranks 16th all-time among NHL defencemen with 1,395 games played and 41st with 638 points. Though he never captured a Stanley Cup, Hamrlík was part of the Czech Republic’s historic gold medal-winning team at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

The Story​

Hamrlík was involved in two major trades during his time with the Edmonton Oilers. The first came courtesy of Glen Sather, the savvy veteran executive who had no trouble fleecing a struggling expansion team. The second was orchestrated by Sather’s successor, Kevin Lowe, who made an impressive first splash as general manager.

When Edmonton acquired Hamrlík from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the move shocked the young defenceman. Tampa had selected him with the franchise’s first-ever draft pick, and the expectation was that he would anchor their blueline for years to come. Instead, he was dealt during his sixth season with the club.

For the Oilers, the trade filled a massive need. Hamrlík provided a much-needed top-four presence capable of driving offence and logging heavy minutes. He made an immediate impact, scoring 26 points in 41 games after arriving in Edmonton midway through the 1997-98 season, and he earned an All-Star nod the following year in 1998-99.

The deal turned out to be a disaster for the Lightning. Bryan Marchment was flipped to the San Jose Sharks after just 22 games in Tampa, while former first-round picks Jason Bonsignore and Steve Kelly both failed to live up to expectations.

Hamrlík’s stay in Edmonton proved short-lived. When it became clear the Oilers wouldn’t be able to afford him long-term, rookie GM Kevin Lowe traded him to the New York Islanders in exchange for Eric Brewer, Josh Green, and a second-round draft pick.

That solid haul helped ease the pain of losing an important part of the team’s defence. Brewer became an effective shutdown defender for the Oilers before later being moved to St. Louis as part of the return for Norris Trophy-winner Chris Pronger.

What Brownlee said​

On a personal note, I’ll never forget Hamrlík’s debut with the Oilers, which came Jan. 2, 1998 in a 5-3 loss to Montreal at Rexall Place. During the game, Hamrlík went down the tunnel to the dressing room and collapsed. Up in the press box, I’m thinking, “Shit, this can’t be good.” Turns out Hamrlík wasn’t injured, he was cramping up. Disaster avoided. The other memory is bumping into Hamrlík shopping for shoes in Ottawa. He had four or five boxes of high-end leather under his arm. “They’re on sale,” said Hamrlík, who was making a couple million bucks a season then. “You should buy some.” I did.

New GM Kevin Lowe would make his first big splash after taking over from Sather at the 2000 Entry Draft in Calgary when he traded Hamrlík to the New York Islanders for Eric Brewer, Josh Green and a draft pick the Oilers used to select Brad Winchester. It was as much a budget move as a trade. Brewer was still on his entry level deal ($925,000), while Hamrlík was at $2.25 million and due for a bump.

Fans saw far too many really good players leave Edmonton in the 1990s and 2000s as the Oilers struggled to compete financially, and Hamrlík was one of them. Hammer Time led New York D-men in scoring the season after Lowe dealt him. He played a dozen seasons after his too-short stint in Edmonton.

The Last 10​

• No. 77 — Zack Kassian
• No. 76 — Eric Brewer
• No. 75 — Risto Siltanen
• No. 74 — Raffi Torres
• No. 73 — Don Jackson
• No. 72 — Andrew Cogliano
• No. 71 — Anson Carter
• No. 70 — Adam Graves
• No. 69 — Vincent Damphousse
• No. 68 — Dustin Penner

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/top-100-edmonton-oilers-no-67-roman-hamrlik

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

GDB 11.0: Oilers Face a Mammoth Test (7:30 PM MT, SN1)

The Utah Mammoth are 7-0 since unveiling their new mascot, Tusky, during their home opener against Calgary on October 15th. The Mammoth have outscored teams 32-17 during their franchise record seven-game winning streak, and they skate into Edmonton with arguably the most dangerous top-six in the NHL.

Utah is the only team in the NHL with five forwards with 9+ points. Nick Schmaltz leads the NHL with 16 points, while Clayton Keller has 12, Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther have 11 and JJ Peterka has nine. Utah has the most goals among Western Conference teams, and only Washington (2.33) has a better GAA than the Mammoth’s 2.40. They are tied with New Jersey for the best GF-GA differential at +13 (37-24).

These are not the low-budget Arizona Coyotes. They have the same GM, Bill Armstrong, who has done a great job of drafting — and recently trading for — some elite skill.

Armstrong was hired as GM of the Coyotes in September of 2020. His first draft they took Dylan Guenther ninth overall, Josh Doan 37th overall and JJ Moser 60th overall. Guenther already has 58 NHL goals. Doan was traded to Buffalo for Peterka, while Moser was part of the deal to acquire Mikhail Sergachev.

In 2022, Armstong drafted Cooley (9th), Conor Geekie (11th) and Maveric Lamoureux (29th). Cooley already has two 20+ goals seasons and has seven goals this year. He also has the second-fastest top speed in the NHL this season at 23.97 miles per hour (mph), trailing only Connor McDavid (24.61 mph). Geekie was the other pieces sent to Tampa for Sergachev, while Lamoureux is a hulking 6’7″, 220-pound D-man who can really skate. He played 15 NHL games last season and is expected to be a pillar on the blue line down the road.

Armstrong drafted Dmitry Simashev 6th overall in 2023, and after two seasons in the KHL, he’s in his rookie NHL season playing with Sergachev. The Mammoth prospect pool consists of Tij Iginla, Cole Beaudoin, Caleb Desnoyers, Max Psenicka and others. Armstrong told me yesterday on Sports 1440 that he feels his current roster is only about 60-70% complete as he’s very excited about the young players who will be joining them.

The Mammoth and Oilers are two of the quickest teams in the NHL.

Tonight should be a fast game.

And it might have a bit extra spice as Leon Draisaitl said this about the Mammoth’s winning streak.

““ Obviously a lot of skill, a team that’s feeling it right now, but this isn’t the time where it matters to feel it right? You gotta show it down the stretch. Obviously they got off to a good start which helps so it’s gonna be a great test for us.”

SNAPSHOTS…​

— Armstrong had an interesting viewpoint on his team adjusting to playing in Utah after being in Arizona. “I know this is going to sound funny, but we weren’t used to fans last year at this time, we couldn’t win at the Delta Centre.” said Armstrong. “Our team was so over enthused about being the front a fan based that was crazy about us. We over tried, we got over frustrated and it boiled over. It took us awhile to get used to that as a team. Now the guys are super grateful for the elite practice facility that we have. And the Delta Center has been renovated with our name, and the mascot and everything else. We live in a world with the Utah Mammoth of no-excuse hockey. As a GM that is all you can ask for. We don’t have one excuse (not to be competitive).”

— Trent Frederic had his best game of the season in Vancouver. He was moving his feet, he spent more time in the offensive zone, he won board battles, protected the puck well and he had eight hits. You won’t get eight hits a game, but the other aspects are repeatable. When you are in a funk offensively you need to do other things to contribute and he did on Sunday. He needs to do more of it tonight.

— The Oilers will play their first game with their new third jersey. Outside a new jerseys, they gave their coaches new track suits to match the jersey. It led to a few laughs from the players. “I’ve never seen a coach in that light colour of track suit,” said Frederic with a smile/laugh.

Oilers will unveil their new third jersey tonight. They gave coaches a matching track suit. There will be some light hearted chirps I’m sure. pic.twitter.com/RXubRRo1Fl

— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) October 28, 2025

— Zach Hyman skated with the team and he rotated in on line rushes with the fourth line as he, Noah Philp and Curtis Lazar took turns rotating in. Hyman is eligible to return to the lineup at the earliest on Saturday. It is still too early to say for sure if he’ll be ready, but he is getting closer and he has been skating and shooting for the past few weeks, which is a good sign.

LINEUPS…​

Oilers…​

RNH – McDavid – Mangiapane
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Roslovic
Frederic – Henrique– Savoie
Howard – Tomášek
Nurse – Bouchard
Ekholm – Walman
Kulak – Emberson
Stecher
Skinner
The Oilers will dress 11 forwards and seven D to get Troy Stecher in a game. It will be interesting to see which forwards get shifts with Howard and Tomášek. I could see McDavid and Draisaitl getting a few extra shifts with them. I think both Howard and Tomášek would like to create a bit more 5×5.
Knoblauch mentioned he switched up his D pairs in Vancouver based on how guys were playing. He isn’t locked in to keeping these pairs together long-term, but is open to having them for the time being. It will depend on how the D plays. The Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard pairing was leaking goals against, so a switch, even if temporary makes sense.

Mammoth​

Keller – Hayton – Schmaltz
Peterska – Cooley – Guenther
Crouse – McBain – Carcone
O’Brien – Stenlund – TanevSergachev – Simashev
Schmidt – Marino
Cole – MaattaVejmelka

The Cooley line has faced a lot of the top lines and done quite well. They are one of the fastest lines in the NHL, and Cooley is extremely quick. I’d love to see many shifts of him going head-to-head against McDavid. They have the two fastest top speeds in the NHL, and the speed when they are on the ice together should be electric.

TONIGHT…​

Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk
GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers will need to be sharper than they have been, as Utah is playing great. Oilers lose in OT/SO for the third time this season with a 4-3 loss.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers PP scores another goal.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Frederic scores his second goal of the season.

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/gdb-11-0-edmonton-oilers-utah-mammoth-preview

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Isaac Howard scores again, Jack Roslovic settling in, and the Oilers love winning the hard way

It was a tough weekend for Edmonton Oilers fans, as the boys dropped both games on the West Coast after disappointing efforts against the Kraken and Canucks. Back at Rogers Place for the first of a three-game home stand, the Oilers welcomed the red-hot Utah Mammoth for the first time since actually having a name. Utah came into town riding a seven-game win streak, and it was going to take a whole lot more effort than we got this weekend if the Oilers were going to avoid sliding back under .500. And while the Oilers secured their first victory in their new alternate jerseys, getting to that 6-3 win was anything but easy.

ISAAC HOWARD DOESN’T WANT TO GO TO BAKERSFIELD​

Isaac Howard must’ve looked into the Condors because he’s playing like a guy who just learned the only good thing about Bakersfield is Korn. What I’m loving about the Ice Man right now is that he’s not waiting for permission to make something happen. If he’s got a lane and the puck on his stick, he’s ripping it. Howard’s registered at least one shot on goal in six straight games, and that willingness to fire every chance he gets is something a few vets on this roster could stand to copy. You can tell he’s building confidence, and it’s driving him to make the most of what are still limited minutes. On Tuesday, he only played 9:17, but with a goal, two shots on net, and a +1 rating, it’s hard to argue he isn’t making an impact.

On his second goal of the season, Howard drove to the net and banged home Adam Henrique’s centring pass before Karel Vejmelka even knew what hit him. The instincts are there, and the goals are starting to follow. For a rookie getting 10–12 minutes a night, you can’t ask for much more than steady improvement as the games roll along. He’s standing out more, he’s engaged, and, maybe most importantly, the Ice Man is unapologetically assertive with the puck. Even though it’s still early, you can see the trust he has in his shot — and using it as often as possible looks like his ticket to staying in the show. If he keeps taking small steps forward with every at-bat, any talk of him heading to Bakersfield will disappear. Clearly, Howard has no interest in finding out what it’s like.

JACK ROSLOVIC KEEPS GETTING BETTER​

Jack Roslovic looks like he’s finally starting to get comfortable in Edmonton after what was always going to be a tough ask. The guy literally signed his one-year contract in the middle of the Oilers’ season opener against Calgary after missing all of training camp and the pre-season. So to get tossed into the deep end less than 30 minutes after eating was a challenge we had to be patient with. Roslovic’s first few games looked like a player trying to catch up to everyone else, but lately, it’s starting to click now that he’s got nine games under his belt. His ice time has bounced between 13 and 19 minutes, and his timing seems to be coming back to him with each passing game. He’s averaging just over three shots on goal per game over the last four contests, and that tells me he’s starting to look more like the guy Stan Bowman brought in to chip in with some secondary scoring.

That’s an encouraging sign, because there’s real upside here if he gets his mojo back. Roslovic was drafted 25th overall by Winnipeg back in 2015 and has since carved out a solid career with stops in Columbus, Carolina, and New York. Before coming to Edmonton, he had 102 goals and 260 points in 526 games on his resume, including 22 goals and 39 points with the Hurricanes last season. That’s the kind of guy that could end up bringing huge ROI for only $1.5 million. He may not be the flashiest player around, but he can skate, he can shoot, and he produces at five-on-five, which is exactly what the Oilers need more of. He picked up his first goal as an Oiler in Vancouver with a clean snipe that beat Demko upstairs, and he had a few dangerous looks against Utah, including a post in the first period. It feels like he’s settling in, and if this is just the warm-up, there’s a decent chance Roslovic becomes one of those under-the-radar signings that ends up making a real impact.

WINNING THE HARD WAY​

The Oilers sure don’t make it easy on themselves, do they? Once again, the boys forced themselves to climb out of an early hole after another mistake-laden start spotted Utah a 2–0 lead. While Edmonton actually had a pretty strong start, a pair of tough turnovers by Darnell Nurse gave Utah the openings they needed to cash in early. But to the Oilers’ credit, they didn’t let another rough start keep them down. Instead, they clawed back into the mix early in the second period, tying the game at two thanks to goals from Mattias Ekholm and Isaac Howard, both of which came from driving to the net and letting pucks fly. It wasn’t the opening we wanted, but we did get exactly the kind of greasy response you need after shooting your toe off in the opening frame.

Of course, nothing ever comes easy for this team, does it? Just when we thought the momentum had swung their way, a brutal misplay by Stuart Skinner behind the net handed Utah the lead back on a platter. It was the kind of mistake, moments after a tying goal, that could have derailed the entire night had the team been more fragile. But once again, instead of folding, the boys pushed back for a second time with four straight goals to close out the win. If there’s an easy way and a hard way to do things, the Oilers seem to have no interest in the former. Nights like this won’t quiet down the noise about slow starts at all, but they do show the character in the group to keep battling when times get rough. And right now, that might be just as valuable as a lopsided win.

PRESENTED BY VIVID SEATS​

Take $20 off your first Vivid Seats order of $200+ using promo code OILERSNATION (new customers only, $200 USD minimum before taxes & fees).

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/isaac...tling-lineup-edmonton-oilers-winning-hard-way

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Top 100 Oilers: No. 66 — Pat Hughes

Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Pat Hughes comes in at No. 66 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 36 on Brownlee’s original list.

For Edmonton Oilers fans of a certain vintage, the name Pat Hughes invokes the memories of a hard-working, honest player who rose to the occasion and engraved his name twice on the Stanley Cup in the City of Champions.

A crucial depth piece in the 1983-84 and 1984-85 championship teams, Hughes was consistent, relentless, and even had his own individual moments of greatness.

But for residents of Ann Arbor, Michigan, they’d know Hughes as Detective Hughes, beginning as a police officer at 40 years old, stopping him to reminisce about the old University of Michigan teams he played for. His three Stanley Cup rings (one previous with Montreal) came secondary.

Notable​

The Calgary-born, but later Etobicoke product, was selected in the third round, 52nd overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in 1975, a team about to go on their last dynasty stand and win four straight Stanley Cups.

With the NHL Amateur Draft selection age still at 20 years old at the time, Hughes had already played multiple seasons with the Michigan Wolverines when his name was called.

His first full season was the last of profound Habs dominance in 1978-79, winning the cup and playing in 41 games.

Shipped to Pittsburgh the following season, he was acquired by the Oilers in 1980-81 for Pat Price. Hughes began playing his best hockey soon after.

Usually slotted on the third line, Hughes scored 24, 25, and 27 goals in the next three seasons as they finally and inevitably vaulted over the New York Islanders to win the holy grail.

On a team with Dave Semenko, Ken Linseman, and Mark Messier, Hughes could also chuck’em, as shown in this clip, where he beats the brakes off of Garry Galley on a December night in ‘84.

Looking back, Hughes was practically a senior citizen on the 83-84 Oilers — at just 28 years old, only Willy Lindstrom, Jaroslav Pouzar, Dave Lumley, and Lee Fogolin were older.

Hughes’ contributions in the middle-six of the lineup were a major reason why they got over the Islanders hump. He scored two goals and a total of 13 points in that post-season, with Edmonton beating New York in five, and the rest was history.

The Story​

While his production stalled in 1984-85, he remained an integral part of the team voted to be the greatest in NHL history, as they cruised 15-3 in the playoffs to back-to-back Stanley Cups.

“It’s amazing, is what it is. It’s a huge honour,” Hughes said in 2018 after the vote was published.“We knew what it took to win. I think after the adjustments we made, the additions to the team, the fact that we’d already done it, we were a much more confident group.”

Hughes held an NHL record. Broke one of Wayne’s, in fact.

He scored two shorthanded goals 25 seconds apart in a 7-5 win against the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 11, 1983. The record would stand for five years, until another Oiler broke it in Esa Tikkanen with two SH tallies in a dozen ticks.

And although we know scoring was explosive in the 1980s, how about a five-goal game on Feb. 3, 1984?

In a 10-5 drubbing of the Calgary Flames and Gretzky out of the lineup, Hughes couldn’t be denied, becoming one of just 48 players in the 100-plus years of the NHL to score five or more in a game. He’d never scored a hat-trick or afterwards in an Oilers sweater.

How many Oilers scored five goals in a game, you ask? Just two: Gretzky four times and Kurri once.

“It was one of those freak nights, I guess,” Hughes said in an NHL.com article in 2017.”You’re Gretzky for a day. … I’ll call it all lucky, and I’ll leave it at that, because I don’t think anybody who played with me or against me would have ever expected anything like that to happen.”

For an NHL career with 573 regular-season games and 71 more in the playoffs, Hughes made them count. He has three Stanley Cup rings and many memorable moments to show for a hard-working career.

Edmonton Journal, Wednesday, March 11, 1981

What Brownlee said​

I’ve always had a soft spot for role players who up their game and are at their very best when it matters most, and that’s why I’m a sucker for Pat Hughes. Hughes was hard-nosed “lesser light” who shone almost as brightly as the biggest stars with the Edmonton Oilers when they finally claimed their first Stanley Cup in 1984. When it mattered, Hughes was money.

Hughes, who spent a lot of time playing in the bottom six with the Oilers over the years, notably on a line with Dave Hunter and Kevin McClelland, would win a pair of Stanley Cups during his tenure in Edmonton, but it was that first one, helping the Oilers end the four-Cup dynasty of the New York Islanders in five games, that puts him on this list for me.

The Last 10​

• No. 76 — Eric Brewer
• No. 75 — Risto Siltanen
• No. 74 — Raffi Torres
• No. 73 — Don Jackson
• No. 72 — Andrew Cogliano
• No. 71 — Anson Carter
• No. 70 — Adam Graves
• No. 69 — Vincent Damphousse
• No. 68 — Dustin Penner
• No. 67 — Roman Hamrlík

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/top-100-edmonton-oilers-no-66-pat-hughes

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Real Life Podcast: The Blue Jays are one game away from winning the World Series

Thursday afternoon means a fresh episode of Real Life was recorded, edited, and is ready to help you wrap up the week. On today’s podcast, the guys discussed the Toronto Blue Jays being a win away from the World Series, the Nation Vacation to Vancouver, beefs of the week, Halloween candy, and much more.

The guys kicked off the Thursday episode of Real Life with a look at the Toronto Blue Jays’ chances at closing out the World Series on Friday night at the Rogers Centre. Given that the Jays are only one game away from clinching their third World Series title, it’s hard not to get completely wrapped up in this run. Even if you’re not a hardcore Blue Jays fan who watches every game in the regular season, the hype is taking over the country in a very real way.

Changing gears, the guys dove a little bit into the Nation Vacation, and started with the rally popcorn Baggedmilk bought at the Oilers game in Vancouver. While the rally popcorn was trying to do its thing, Jay noted that Tyler had the job completed before Edmonton actually closed out the comeback. From there, Tyler and BM spent the next few minutes thanking the amazing Nation Citizens who joined us on this trip out west.

Finally, the guys wrapped up the podcast with Thursday episode of Real Life with a random collection of topics, including a look at the NFL schedule having some horrible prime time matchups, Halloween candy tactics during the World Series, and how shrinkflation is ruining everyone’s ability to eat appropriate amounts of candy. Talking about candy led to the guys workshopping some ideas for Chalmers’ Halloween party that some folks on the show weren’t invited to.

Listen to the Thursday episode of Real Life below:

Subscribe to the Real Life Podcast for FREE on Spotify here, on Apple Podcasts here, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/real-life-podcast-toronto-blue-jays-one-game-winning-world-series

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

The Day After 12.0: Knoblauch open to benching Bouchard as Oilers’ mistakes continue to mount

Even the Devil himself would be spooked by the way the Edmonton Oilers have been playing.

As an October full of ghastly mistakes kept adding up for the Oilers, Halloween Eve saw them leave the candy bowl outside for the neighbourhood kids to pillage. And that’s what the New York Rangers did, taking advantage of the full-sized candy bars coughed up by the Oilers, overcoming a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 in overtime.

The first bar came thanks to Evan Bouchard, who turned over a puck on a failed D-to-D pass, giving Jonny Brodzinski a breakaway he made no mistake on. And while the Oilers would manage to get a 3-1 lead heading into the third, Jake Walman would turn a puck over at the Rangers’ blue line, leading to a Braden Schneider goal the other way and minutes later, Bouchard coughed up a puck at the Oilers’ blue line, leading to Taylor Raddysh’s game-tying goal.

Come overtime, Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were left watching as J.T. Miller went end-to-end, beating Stuart Skinner for the game-winning goal.

On a night where the Oilers didn’t play a terrible game, one where they were able to fend off the Rangers chances, they couldn’t get out of their own way, leading to head coach Kris Knoblauch facing questions about the potential of benching Evan Bouchard.

“We gotta hold all our players accountable, and there’s a fine line on mistakes that periodically happen, because no player is going to play a perfect game and there’s always going to be a mistake,” said Knoblauch. “But if there’s accumulation of mistakes that are costing us regularly, then yes, we need to hold everyone accountable.”

Knoblauch hasn’t held players’ ice time back much during his time as head coach as a means of punishment, but he did Tuesday night against the Utah Mammoth. Nurse didn’t take a shift in the final two minutes of the first period, and didn’t take any shifts for the first six minutes of the second. He responded in a big way last night, as his pair of goals — as well as Matt Savoie’s first of his career — were a big reason why the Oilers were even handing around with the Rangers.

The biggest issue Knoblauch’s seen in Bouchard’s game is a failure to move his feet.

“With Evan, you know, sometimes your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness, and you have a great talent in making passes and feeling confident that you can do that, but when it’s not working, it’s costing with chances against,” he said. “Usually, when turnovers are happening, a lot of times it’s not moving your feet.

“You’re standing still, you’re making a pass where very rarely do I see any player, especially Evan, when he’s moving his feet, he’s opening up lanes. Then passes are usually made, but when they’re stationary and you’re locked in one spot, it’s a pretty fine line to execute a hard pass.”

Beyond the five-alarm fire’s the Oilers need to clean up, their general play needs work, too. There’s been too many games this season where they play a good or great 50 minutes, but are losing the game in 10 minutes of mistake-filled hockey.

The issue is easy to identify: a team not playing their own brand of hockey.

“Collectively, I think we’re a little disappointed,” said Knoblauch. “We feel like we take a step forward, but we take two steps back.

“Just because we talk about something and we do something well for a short period of time doesn’t mean we’ve got it solved, and we got to make sure it’s ingrained that we’re doing this all the time, and this is our identity and this is how we’re going to play.”

The 5-5-3 Oilers will welcome the 5-4-2 Chicago Blackhawks to town Saturday night, before a two-game road trip takes them to St. Louis next Tuesday and Dallas next Thursday.

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/kris-knoblauch-benching-evan-bouchard-edmonton-oilers-mistakes-mount

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Oilersnation Radio: The Oilers are spooky and scary but not in a fun Halloween way

It’s Friday afternoon, which means a fresh episode of Oilersnation Radio is ready to massage your eardrums with an hour of off-season Oilers talk. On today’s podcast, the fellas discussed the Oilers losing three of four, some recent milestones on the roster, David Tomasek’s first NHL goal, line combos, and much more.

We kicked off the Friday episode of ONR with a delicious debate about Evan Bouchard’s rough night against New York, and whether anyone is worried about what was a miserable evening for No. 2. While there’s no doubt that Bouchard didn’t play well against the Rangers, being too concerned about him this early in the year probably doesn’t make sense either. That said, he definitely needs to play better given the minutes he commands, and it will be interesting to see if he faces any supplementary discipline like Darnell Nurse did a couple nights before.

Continuing with the breakdown of the last few games for Edmonton, the Oilers blew a two-goal lead against the Rangers on Thursday, which was incredibly disappointing and frustrating given how they had dominated the game early. In the span of just under four minutes, the Oilers went from being up by two goals to being in a tie game. Even with a late power play opportunity, the boys couldn’t get the job done. To make matters worse, the comeback didn’t happen because the Rangers were shooting the lights out, the loss happened because the Oilers cannot stop making 10-bell mistakes.

Finally, we wrapped up the Friday episode of ONR with another round of Ask the Idiots, betting talk for our friends at bet365, and Hot and Cold Performers to look back on the week. With the 2025-26 season well underway, the guys spent the bulk of the Friday episode discussing a range of topics, some related to the Oilers and others not, but that’s what happens at this stage of a new campaign.

Listen to the Friday episode of Oilersnation Radio below:

Subscribe to Oilersnation Radio for FREE on Soundcloud here, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts from!

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/oiler...ooky-and-scary-but-not-in-a-fun-halloween-way

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Scenes From Morning Skate: Stuart Skinner declares the Oilers are fine

Stuart Skinner stood in front of reporters as the Chicago Blackhawks rolled into Rogers Place and declared that the Edmonton Oilers are fine. He’s happy with how his game has been growing this season. Everything’s trending in the right direction. No need to worry.

The question is whether anyone should actually believe him.

Skinner has reason to feel good about (some) of his recent performances. His shutout at Madison Square Garden was the kind of game that reminds everyone what he’s capable of when he’s dialled in. Thirty saves. Complete control. The Oilers winning a tight, defensive game on the road against quality opposition. That’s the version of Skinner that can carry this team through tough stretches.

But one great game doesn’t erase the inconsistency that’s defined his season—and frankly, his career. For every shutout at MSG, there’s a game where he lets in a weak goal at a crucial moment. For every stretch where he looks like a legitimate starting goaltender, there’s a stretch where the coaching staff considers giving Calvin Pickard more starts just to see if anything changes.

The Oilers being “fine” is debatable. They’ve lost three of their last four. They’re still shuffling lines, trying to find combinations that work. They’re approaching November, still trying to figure out their game.

That’s not fine.

Skinner’s optimism about his game growing makes sense from his perspective. He’s making saves. He’s staying calm under pressure. The mental side of goaltending—the part that plagued him during rough stretches last season—seems more stable. Those are legitimate positives worth acknowledging.

“I’ve been doing a good job, and I’ve been getting better every day,” began Skinner. “So yeah, I feel really good in how I’ve been playing, and I feel really good about how we’ve all been playing, to be honest. Sometimes wins and losses don’t tell you exactly how you’re playing. I think the guys are doing a great job. They’re battling, they’re fighting, they’re doing everything they can to get into shooting lanes. We are sacrificing ourselves to win games, and we just have to do that for a whole game, and we’re going to do that tonight.”

The timing of this declaration matters too. The Blackhawks aren’t exactly an elite opponent. Chicago is rebuilding. They’re young. They’re figuring things out themselves. This is exactly the kind of game where Skinner should be able to back up his words with a dominant performance. If the Oilers are fine and his game is growing, prove it against a team you should handle comfortably.

The risk with public declarations like this is that they create pressure. Skinner just told everyone he’s happy with his game, and the team is fine. If he struggles against Chicago, those words get replayed endlessly. If the Oilers lose, the “fine” comment becomes a punchline. That’s the danger of projecting confidence when the results haven’t consistently backed it up.

“We are having talks about how we are going to get out of it, how we’re just going to play a stronger, simpler game,” continued Skinner. “And I think that’s really the big thing, is just keeping our game simple. Sometimes, when things aren’t going well, you want to do more, and sometimes you got to do the opposite.”

Should fans believe Skinner when he says the Oilers are fine? Maybe. The talent is there. The roster has the pieces to compete. Recent performances show they’re capable of playing good hockey when they commit to it. But capability and consistency are different things, and right now this team—Skinner included—has shown a lot of the former and not enough of the latter.

Belief requires evidence. Skinner’s shutout at MSG is evidence. His overall body of work this season is less convincing. The Oilers blowing multiple leads and sitting at .500 a month into the season doesn’t exactly scream “fine.”

Until words become actions, declarations about being fine feel premature. Skinner might be happy with how his game is growing. The Oilers might believe they’re trending in the right direction. But the results tell a different story—one of inconsistency, blown leads, and a team still searching for its identity a month into the season.

Actions speak louder than words. It’s time for Skinner and the Oilers to prove to everyone that they’re actually fine, instead of just saying it.

Lines and Pairings​

RNH-McDavid-Mangiapane

Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Roslovic

Savoie-Henrique-Frederic

Howard-Philp-Lazar

Extras: Tomášek-Hyman

Ekholm-Bouchard

Nurse-Walman

Kulak-Emberson

Extras: Stecher-Regula

Skinner

Pickard

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/scenes-from-morning-skate-skinner-declares-edmonton-oilers-are-fine

 

[Edmonton Oilers]

Evan Bouchard calls game in overtime as Oilers beat Blackhawks: Recap, Reaction and Highlights

Edmonton Oilers fans who cheer for the Toronto Blue Jays got at least some good news Saturday night, as Evan Bouchard’s overtime goal would secure them a win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

While the Blue Jays would lose Game 7 of the World Series to the L.A. Dodgers in the 11th inning, the Oilers’ extra innings saw them come out on top.

Let’s dive into the highlights.

The Oilers’ best chance to get on the board came in the first period, when Connor Bedard hooked Vasily Podkolzin on a breakaway chance. While Podkolzin would crash into Blackhawks netminder Spencer Knight, the referees would rule a penalty shot in Edmonton’s favour, though Podkolzin couldn’t capitalize.

Vasily Podkolzin was awarded a penalty shot, but the post eats his attempt. #LetsGoOilers

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/7qkk0wT8QC

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) November 2, 2025

And while Draisaitl appeared to score a power play in the final second of that first frame, the puck would cross the line right after the clock hit double zeros. He would make up for it 54 seconds into the second frame, firing a one-timer from his office.

NO GOAL

Leon Draisaitl scores just as time expires in the first period; however, the goal did not count.

: Sportsnet | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/oXX40hOkFa

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) November 2, 2025

DRAISAITL RIPS IT!

His 9th goal of the season comes on the power play as the Oilers open the scoring.#LetsGoOilers | : Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/N9ZxHtoqDX

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) November 2, 2025

Chicago would have a power play of their own eight and a half minutes into the second, where Connor Bedard fed Tyler Bertuzzi at the side of the net, knocking a puck in.

The Blackhawks tie the game 1-1 on the power play.

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/YnVIpo5uFg

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) November 2, 2025

Elevated into the top-six alongside Draisaitl and Podkolzin in recent games, Jack Roslovic was also lifted to the top power play unit Saturday. He made the most of it, deflecting home a McDavid pass.

Jack Roslovic goal, Oilers 2-1.

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/rXIyffF7qc

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) November 2, 2025

Edmonton’s lead was carried into the third period, until Andre Burakovsky tied it up just over three minutes into the frame.

The Blackhawks scored again.

: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/PkOensHDqI

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) November 2, 2025

With the game in overtime, Bouchard would ice it. Draisaitl took a McDavid pass circling to the top of the zone and to the left of Knight, allowing Bouchard to drift down into the slot. A backhand pass came his way, and while his first shot was blocked, he would take a second whack that would beat Knight.

We've heard it many times before: Evan Bouchard wins it in overtime.

: Sportsnet | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/mMujhe2A5O

— Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) November 2, 2025

The Oilers schedule continues with a two-game road trip to visit the St. Louis Blues Monday and the Dallas Stars Tuesday.

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Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at [email protected].

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ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365​

Source: https://oilersnation.com/news/evan-...cago-blackhawks-recap-reaction-and-highlights