We are about 30 percent into the 2025-26 NHL regular season. Thus far, this season has offered numerous surprises, with various teams performing above and below expectations.
However, it is crucial to note that hockey is a sport that can often be significantly impacted by luck and variance, particularly in smaller sample sizes. There are often several teams each year that open with impressive runs until they eventually cool off, while many others rebound from slow starts and finish strong.
The Edmonton Oilers are a prime example of the latter; many should recall their horrendous start to the 2023-24 season where they had an abysmal record of 2-9-1 in their first twelve games. However, they would go on to rally back to finish second in the division in the regular season and come just a single win short of winning the Stanley Cup.
Without the benefit of hindsight, how can one evaluate if a team’s start to the season – good or bad – is truly sustainable? One widely used metric with proven predictive value that we can use is 5‑on‑5 PDO.
This is a statistic that represents the sum of a team’s shooting and save percentage, and is commonly used as a proxy for puck luck. To explain how this stat works in a nutshell, the league average PDO is about ~1.00. Teams with a PDO well above 1.00 are often overachieving, whereas teams with a PDO well below 1.00 are often underachieving. Of course, there are outliers to this rule, as teams with genuinely elite finishing talent and goaltending can consistently score a high PDO (and vice versa), but as a general rule of thumb, the majority of teams will not sustain a PDO significantly higher or lower than 1.00 over a large enough sample.
For instance, the Oilers had a shockingly low PDO of 0.972 in the first 20 games of 2023-24. Predictably, it did not last, as they wound up finishing the season with a PDO of almost exactly 1.00! On the other hand of things, that same season, the Detroit Red Wings started strong with a record of 11-6-3 in their first 20 games, firmly in a playoff spot. But their PDO was a sky-high 1.032, clearly unsustainable. And just like the Oilers, they regressed to the mean, but in the opposite direction, as they missed the playoffs and finished the season with a ~1.008 PDO. I could go on and on with countless more examples, but I think you get the point; PDO can be greatly indicative of a team’s puck luck on both ends.
So, how do the teams fare in 2025-26 thus far in terms of PDO? Let’s take a closer look.
Let’s start with the teams that may be overachieving.
At the top of the PDO leaderboard are the Chicago Blackhawks. On paper, it seems that Connor Bedard is developing into the superstar that he was projected to be and is driving his team to be compete for a playoff spot. However, the Blackhawks are at a sky-high shooting percentage of 11.5 percent. For context, there is no team in the 21st century that has posted a shooting percentage above 11 percent for an entire 82-game season. Considering that Chicago has a -51 high-danger chance differential, this is clearly not sustainable whatsoever. Their recent 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres could very well be the start of a major regression.
Now, the Colorado Avalanche are a fascinating case. Unlike the Blackhawks, this is a team with a genuinely talented roster on paper, and they hold a terrific 60 percent high-danger chance differential. It would be unfair to say that their outstanding start to the season is simply due to puck luck. Still, that being said, their PDO of 1.031 will be difficult to sustain. It’s reasonable to say that two things can be true at once; the Avalanche won’t sustain a 0.833 points percentage for the rest of the year, but they are certainly the favourites for the President’s Trophy.
The Washington Capitals are one example of a team that could sustain a high PDO over a large sample. Excluding this season thus far, their shooting percentage of 10.6 percent in 2024-25 was the highest among any team in a single season in the 21st century, and they continue to rock a 10.2 SH% and 1.02 PDO thus far this season. They seem to be one of the outliers to the general rule for PDO as mentioned above. Led by Alex Ovechkin, Washington is a team with outstanding finishing talent. Perhaps one could say the same for the Dallas Stars to somewhat of an extent, as their PDO too was above-average last season (1.019) and they possess various strong shooters like Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston, though there may still be some slight regression.
However, some teams that you can expect to regress are the Seattle Kraken and Anaheim Ducks. The Kraken currently rank 2nd in the Pacific Division, but they have a team SV% of 0.934, which is highly unlikely to last. The Ducks have certainly obtained a boost from their coaching change this off-season, but they remain heavily out-shot and out-chanced at 5-on-5. While they could absolutely qualify for a wild card spot, it is highly unlikely they finish the season first in the Pacific.
Now, let’s discuss the other end of this leaderboard. It is interesting to see the Red Wings and the Devils quite low on this list. Detroit ranks first in their division, New Jersey ranks second, and yet both teams’ shooting percentage is exceedingly low, just around 7.1 percent. Though the Devils will have to deal with an injury to Jack Hughes, these are highly encouraging signs for them moving forward overall.
The Nashville Predators seem to be the inverse of the Capitals in the sense that their PDO is consistently below expected. It was 0.970 in 2024-25, and it continues to be at a very low 0.962. Even if they do see some regression to the mean, it is likely not enough to help them qualify for a playoff spot.
And of course, there is the Edmonton Oilers, who have been near or at the very bottom of the PDO leaderboard in the first 20 games of each of the past three seasons. For some reason, this team simply seems destined to have a slow start to every season.
Now, there is a caveat here as the Oilers’ underlying numbers, specifically their xG% and high-danger chance are share, are considerably lower than it has been in the past two seasons, even during their poor starts. Their underwhelming start to the season can’t all be attributed to bad luck, as there are areas of their game that need genuine fixes. Nevertheless, there will regression to the mean moving forward, and with the Oilers’ recent win against the Florida Panthers at the end of a long road trip, things seem to be looking up for them.
All-in-all, these are fascinating results. It will be interesting to look back at this at the end of the season.
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The Edmonton Oilers survived — barely — their toughest stretch of the season.
They played 24 games in 46 days with 16 of them on the road, and they accumulated 25 points. That’s not great, not even very good, but with only one game in the next five days, the team will be able to rest, have their first real practice in a few weeks, and prepare for a better December. They need to play better, but gaining three points in Tampa Bay and Florida, in the final two games of a seven-game road trip, should give them some confidence.
The Oilers had consecutive games where they didn’t surrender too many high danger chances, and when they did, their goalies made some timely saves. It is only two games, but I’d argue those were the first consecutive games this season where the goalies played well and the team was sound defensively. It is a small sample, but in order to dig out of their hole of mediocrity, they need a foundation to build off of, and for two games they’ve had it. We’ll see if they can continue it against the Mikko Rantanen-less Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
— Rantanen had a horrible week. He got a major for this hit on Alex Romanov. He and Scott Mayfield did clip skates at the goal line, and he was on one leg, so I actually understand why he wasn’t suspended for this hit.
Mikko Rantanen received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for this hit from behind on Alex Romanov
Romanov needed assistance getting off the ice. pic.twitter.com/LaPPPcMcod
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 19, 2025
Then Rantanen was fined $2,000 for embellishment. The NHL’s Rule 64 is “designed to bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties. Fines are assessed to players and head coaches on a graduated scale outlined below:
Citation Number / Player Fine(s) / Head Coach Fine(s)
- No. 1 Warning N/A
- No. 2 $2,000 N/A
- No. 3 $3,000 N/A
- No. 4 $4,000 N/A
- No. 5 $5,000 $2,000
- No. 6 $5,000 $3,000
- No. 7 $5,000 $4,000
- No. 8 $5,000 $5,000
Rantanen’s first dive/embellishment occurred on October 16th vs. Vancouver and then his second came on Remembrance Day (November 11th) vs. Ottawa.
And on Saturday night, Rantanen delivered this dumb hit to Matt Coronato.
Rantanen received an automatic one-game suspension under Rule 23.6, Physical Infractions Category.
My question is why did they settle for only one game? This hit deserved more than one game in my eyes. The NHL’s unwillingness to punish hits from behind is stunning to me. They’ve significantly reduced head shots by punishing them harshly, yet they continually turn a blind eye (no pun intended) to hits from behind. I don’t understand why. The game doesn’t need them.
— The Oilers are the benefactor of Rantanen’s carelessness as he will sit out tomorrow’s game.
— The Colorado Avalanche are on fire. They’ve won nine games in a row and are 16-1-5 this season. They are on pace for 137 points, which would be two more than the NHL record set by Boston in 2023. I don’t expect the Avalanche to get 135 points, but they look like a juggernaut right now. They’ve outscored teams 61-33 at 5×5. They are +28 at 5×5, and the next closest team is Washington at +20 followed by Carolina at +13. What interests me most about the Avs is how they will deploy their goalies the rest of the season. MacKenzie Blackwood was injured and didn’t play in October. Scott Wedgewood started 11 of their 12 October games. In November, Wedgewood has started six and Blackwood has started four. They are bringing Blackwood along slowly, as he’s yet to start consecutive games, but once he does, I’m curious what the split will be. Wedgewood has been unreal with a .918Sv% and 2.09 GAA, but Blackwood is paid to be their starter. When does he take over that role, and will the split ever be more than 60-40 in his favour?
— The list of teenagers to score 100 points in a season is quite short. The players who scored 100 points in their 18- or 19-year-old seasons (meaning they were 18 or 19 on December 31st) include: Wayne Gretzky (18 and 19), Mario Lemieux (19), Dale Hawerchuk (18), Jimmy Carson (19), Sidney Crosby (18 and 19) and Connor McDavid (19). Macklin Celebrini needs 66 points in his final 59 games to reach 100 points. He is on pace to score 121 but being on pace and actually doing it are two very different things. But 66 points in 59 games, while difficult, isn’t as challenging as maintaining his current pace which would have him produce 87 points in 59 games.
— I don’t understand how some websites will deem Gretzky was 19 in his first season, despite him turning 19 in January. That goes against the entire age grouping in hockey. Take Ducks’ forward Bennett Sennecke. He is currently 19 and eligible to play for Canada at the World Juniors (where you have to be 19 by December 31st). He turns 20 in January, and sites will claim this is now his 20-year-old season. It isn’t. It is his 19-year-old season. It is asinine for those sites to claim that players who turn 20 in January, February or March are in their 20-year-old season. Dumb. End rant.
— Being consistent, in life or in the NHL, is very difficult. I think at times we take for granted the players who can produce consistently year after year. I’ve noticed some people focus a lot on how players do when they leave Edmonton. Last season, Dylan Holloway, Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod each set career highs in goals and points — unreal seasons for all three, but how are they doing this year?
[td width="71px"]Holloway[/td][td width="36px"]GP[/td][td width="86px"]G-A-PTS[/td][td width="35px"]P/GP[/td][td width="103px"]5×5 [/td][td width="100px"]5×5 P/60[/td][td width="71px"]2025[/td][td width="36px"]77[/td][td width="86px"]26-37-63[/td][td width="35px"]0.82[/td][td width="103px"]16-26-42[/td][td width="100px"]2.32[/td][td width="71px"]2026[/td][td width="36px"]22[/td][td width="86px"]5-5-10[/td][td width="35px"]0.45[/td][td width="103px"]4-4-8[/td][td width="100px"]1.47[/td][td width="71px"]McLeod[/td][td width="36px"]GP[/td][td width="86px"]G-A-PTS[/td][td width="35px"]P/GP[/td][td width="103px"]5×5 [/td][td width="100px"]5×5 P/60[/td][td width="71px"]2025[/td][td width="36px"]77[/td][td width="86px"]20-33-53[/td][td width="35px"]0.67[/td][td width="103px"]12-26-38[/td][td width="100px"]2.22[/td][td width="71px"]2026[/td][td width="36px"]22[/td][td width="86px"]5-8-13[/td][td width="35px"]0.59[/td][td width="103px"]3-5-8[/td][td width="100px"]1.72[/td][td width="71px"]Foegele[/td][td width="36px"]GP[/td][td width="86px"]G-A-PTS[/td][td width="35px"]P/GP[/td][td width="103px"]5×5 [/td][td width="100px"]5×5 P/60[/td][td width="71px"]2025[/td][td width="36px"]82[/td][td width="86px"]24-22-46[/td][td width="35px"]0.56[/td][td width="103px"]22-18-40[/td][td width="100px"]2.19[/td][td width="71px"]2026[/td][td width="36px"]17[/td][td width="86px"]3-0-3[/td][td width="35px"]0.18[/td][td width="103px"]2-0-2[/td][td width="100px"]0.59[/td]
Holloway is averaging the most minutes of any Blues forward, but he’s off to a slow start. McLeod is on pace for a very similar season, while Foegele’s production is down drastically. It is just a reminder how difficult it is to produce similar point totals in consecutive seasons, especially at 5×5. McLeod wasn’t going to be a second line C in Edmonton, and I’m happy to see him doing well in Buffalo, and the Oilers believe Matt Savoie (who they got in return) will emerge as a solid 40 or 50-point player, or maybe more in the future. I never understood why the Oilers didn’t match Holloway’s offer sheet. I understand why Oilers fans are upset about that move. Foegele wanted a bigger role than he was going to get in Edmonton. It makes sense, and he got a multi-year deal, but producing 40 points at 5×5 is difficult to do year after year.
— This year fans are watching how Corey Perry, Viktor Arvidsson, Connor Brown, and Jeff Skinner are doing. Perry missed the first few weeks of the season and then stormed out of the game with 7-4-11 in his first 10 games. He has 0-1-1 in his last six. Arvidsson had 6-4-10 in 20 games, but then he got hurt. Brown had 5-1-6, then got injured and since returning he doesn’t have a point. Skinner had 4-3-7 in 17 games and then got injured. It is unfortunate for them that they’ve all been injured at some point this season.
— Edmonton’s new forwards through the first 24 games.
- Jack Roslovic: 9-8—17
- Andrew Mangiapane: 4-4—8
- Matt Savoie: 3-3—6
- David Tomášek: 2-2—4
- Trent Frederic: 2-0—2 (he wasn’t on roster to start last season).
New players have 20 goals and 37 points.
Forwards who left and their production through 24 games last year:
- Jeff Skinner: 4-4—8
- Connor Brown: 3-5—8
- Corey Perry: 4-3—7
- Viktor Arvidsson: 2-3—5
- Derek Ryan: 0-2—2
They combined for 13 goals and 30 points.
— Many Oilers fans and pundits didn’t like the 2021 draft day trade by Ken Holland and Tyler Wright, that had the Oilers trade the 20th pick to Minnesota for the 22nd and 90th pick. The Wild moved up and took goalie Jesper Wallstedt while the Oilers took Xavier Bourgault at 22nd (Wyatt Johnston went 23rd to Dallas) and they took Luca Muenzenberger with the 90th pick. The Oilers traded Bourgault to Ottawa for Roby Jarventie, while Muenzenberger was never signed. Passing on Wallstedt looks even worse today as he’s been great with the Wild. He is 6-0-2 and he’s posted three shutouts in his last four starts.
The Wild are 9-1-1 in November and both Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson have played great. They each posted a shutout on the weekend to match Colorado’s duo of Blackwood and Wedgewood who also posted consecutive shutouts. The Wild started the season 3-6-3 but have rebounded nicely in November and are now only two points behind Dallas for second in the Central.
— While Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota are playing well, the Winnipeg Jets might be in trouble. Connor Hellebuyck is out 4-6 weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery and the Jets are 0-2 without him. Last season, the Jets played great defensively in front of their goalies, but this season they are leaking way more chances. Hellebuyck had 12.5 goals saved above expected before his injury. He was winning them games by himself. They can’t expect Eric Comrie to do that.
Six of their next seven games are on the road. They are in Washington Wednesday, then in Carolina and Nashville on Friday and Saturday. Next week they play Monday in Buffalo, Wednesday in Montreal, Friday at home to Buffalo and they are in Edmonton on Saturday. That is tough back-to-back travel from Winnipeg to Edmonton. Then they have a four-game homestand against Dallas, Boston, Washington and Ottawa and before the Christmas break they face St. Louis, Colorado and Utah on the road. Their next 13 games will have a major impact on their season. If they struggle to be even .500, they could lose a lot of ground to Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota.
— I’ve seen many claiming the Oilers have changed their system. I hadn’t noticed any changes at 5×5. I saw a team playing poorly making too many wrong decisions with the puck and positionally, so I asked Kris Knoblauch if he has changed anything 5×5 this season from last year.
The Oilers’ struggles thus far have been more self-inflicted from bad decisions with the puck or poor positioning. The glaring turnovers cost them. A lack of 5×5 production has led to them taking risks they shouldn’t and they hadn’t played consecutive games with solid goaltending until Tampa and Florida. A lack of energy was also apparent too often early this season. Add all of that in and that leads to their record. Now it is up to them to play better, and as Knoblauch outlined, they coaches will make some adjustments. They haven’t had a practice in two weeks, so this morning was the first time to implement the small change.
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Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Ken Linseman comes in at No. 61 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 41 on Brownlee’s original list.
Through the some 130 years of competition for the Stanley Cup, there’s been some great hockey nicknames – names that transcend the player.
Maybe the first would be Fred “Cyclone” Taylor. Rocket Richard. Pat “the Little Ball of Hate” Verbeek.
Gnawing beside those names is The Rat.
Yes, Ken Linseman: a hard-nosed player who frustrated the opposition through agitation, brutal stickwork, all while providing offence in the middle-six of the lineup.
He may slash your best player in the face — as he did in the 1984 Stanley Cup Final — and score 10 goals in that same post-season run.
He would debate relentlessly, frustrating his teammates, as Kevin Lowe said. “He was one of the great arguers in Oilers history.”
One part is definitive: Ken Linseman was a huge part of the team’s first Stanley Cup in 1984.
Despite playing only three seasons in Edmonton, The Rat is a great embodiment of 1980s hockey, endearing himself to each fan base he played for, scoring over a point a game in the playoffs, and even changing the course of hockey history…
Notable
Ken Linseman was the catalyst for the NHL to lower the draft age to 18 years old. As a junior with the Kingston Canadians, he was a late selection by the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association in 1977.
He was a talent, scoring 53-74–127 points in his third year of junior. He believed he was ready to play pro hockey.
At that time, the NHL draft age was 20 years old. Linseman was signed by the Bulls and would sue the NHL.
Linseman was one of several junior talents leaving to play in the WHA, making the NHL fume, and to make a long story short, the NHL would be forced to lower the draft age to 18.
Drafted seventh overall in 1978 by the Philadelphia Flyers, Linseman would quickly become a fixture in their lineup, scoring a career high 92 points in 1981-82 as part of the “Rat Patrol” line with Brian Propp and Paul Holmgren.
The Story
How did Kenny become The Rat?
Well, the original story ain’t pretty. During a scrap in junior playoffs with Kingston, facing the Ottawa 67s, Linseman kicked Jeff Gieger in the face, leading to a suspension and eventual conviction of assault.
The Rat crossed the line at times.
Just months after lifting the Cup with the Oilers, Linseman was in a tangle-up with former teammate Lee Fogolin and bit Foggy’s cheek. He received merely a fine.
You’d love him as a teammate, hate him as an opponent. But he came to play when the games mattered. He is 26th all-time in playoff points per game (1.062) with 120 in 113 games.
Perhaps this quote from 1985 via Sports Illustrated best sums up his no-remorse policy.
Linseman was dirty, but effective. He was a helluva player to have in your lineup.
The Oilers acquired the original super-pest via the Hartford Whalers on Aug. 19, 1982, for Risto Siltanen and Brent Loney (he was swapped from Philadelphia to Hartford earlier that day).
Linseman’s impact was immediate. Proving a second layer of offence and a brand of penalty-drawing agitation, to outright disregard for “The Code,” Linseman would cement himself as a beloved Oiler.
He was fifth in team goals in 82-83, scoring 33-42–75 and 181 PIMs with a team nearing the chalice, but losing to the Islanders in the final. The Rat was also suspended twice for four games that season.
A year later, he provided 18-49–67, but his best hockey was in the playoffs. He scored 10-4–14, the third most Oilers goals in that run, only behind Gretzky and Kurri in the first Stanley Cup. The most memorable moment for Linseman in the SCF was the slash or high-stick he produced on Bryan Trottier that led to a five-minute major in Game 4.
The Oilers, leading 2-1 at the time, wouldn’t be undone, and cruised to an eventual 7-2 win to take a stranglehold of the series 3-1. Translating to offence a game later, in Game 5, Linseman’s 3-0 goal became the Stanley Cup clincher in a 5-2 at Northlands.
Lowe said in Champions that his trade in the off-season to Boston came as a surprise, but Linseman had a way of getting under teammates’ skin as much as the opposition, recalling the time Gretzky said he was going to “f***ing kill him” after he took multiple penalties. Linseman would score twice en route to an Oilers win on that occasion.
Mike Krushelnyski came to Edmonton in the trade and became a tight friend with Gretzky, joining him in Los Angeles in the Great Sale. Linseman played exactly 200 regular-season games with the Oilers and 37 more in the playoffs.
Edmonton Journal, August 20, 1982
What Brownlee said
The Last 10
The full court press is on, and the Edmonton Oilers might be forced to make a move to address their goaltending situation.
The team ranks dead last in team save percentage this season, with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard combining for an abysmal .860 mark through the first 25 games of the Oilers’ season.
Neither has been good enough this year, and rumours began to swirl on Tuesday about St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington being a potential option. It’s hard to say whether or not Binnington would be an upgrade, given his own rough start to the season, but another netminder who’s had a better start popped up as a potential option on Wednesday: the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Tristan Jarry.
I’m told 2X @NHL All-Star and @penguins Goalie Tristan Jarry is among
the goalies drawing significant interest as
a potential option for the @EdmontonOilers , keep in mind he played
in Edmonton with the Oil Kings.#HockeyX pic.twitter.com/gDcqv6TOBO
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) November 26, 2025
Jarry, as noted by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, has roots in Edmonton having played his major junior career with the WHL’s Oil Kings. The 30-year-old Surrey, B.C. native was part of the powerhouse 2014 Memorial Cup winning team, and has spent his whole 10 year NHL career with the Penguins, who drafted him in the second round of the 2013 draft.
While Jarry had a rough 2024-25 season, posting a 16-12-6 record, .892 save percentage and a 3.12 goals against average, he’s rebounded well this year, posting a 5-2 record, a .911 save percentage and a 2.60 goals against average on the surprisingly strong Penguins.
He has two years remaining on a deal paying him $5.375-million per year, and has a 12-team no-trade list.
Jarry has seemingly lost the crease this season to rookie Arturs Silovs, who the Penguins acquired over the summer, while they have another young netminder, Sergei Murashov, who is starting to emerge as an option for the team, too.
The Penguins have roughly $12-million in cap space, according to PuckPedia, and if the two teams were to pull off a trade surrounding Jarry for Skinner — as is rumoured to be the base of a Binnington trade — and Pittsburgh were to retain 50 percent of Jarry’s contract, the Oilers would gain roughly $88,000 in cap space.
It’s unknown if Pittsburgh would even be interested in taking on Skinner, who is a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, making $2.6-million.
Nonetheless, things appear to be heating up in the rumour mill.
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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The Edmonton Oilers rolled into Seattle on Saturday afternoon looking for signs of life after getting dummied by the Stars on Thursday night in one of the worst losses of the season. With injuries piling up, trade rumours flying all over social media, and the season slipping quietly toward the danger zone, this matchup with the Kraken felt less like a late-November matinee and more like a gut check test the boys desperately needed to pass. And exactly as we all hoped, the Oilers understood the assignment. They went into Seattle and took two points with a 4-0 win without ever looking like the result was in doubt, penalties and all. That’s a big dub.
WELCOME BACK, RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was back in the lineup after missing nine games with a concussion, and it did not take him long to make an impact on the game. Even though we knew he would give the team quality minutes in all situations, he also took it upon himself to open the scoring on what ended up as the game-winner just past the midway point of the first period. Nuge’s sixth of the year also marked the 300th of his NHL career while simultaneously kick-starting a power play unit that had been spinning its wheels a little bit over the last couple of weeks. To say that the guy is vital to this roster’s success would be a massive understatement. He may not be the best player in the lineup, and we are always looking for more five-on-five offence, but he is undoubtedly one of the most important.
On Saturday, Nuge gave us yet another under-the-radar performance that saw him post a goal and an assist (18 points in 17 GP), two shots on goal, and a big blocked shot on the PK when the Kraken were gifted six PP minutes toward the end of the first period, all in under 18 minutes of TOI. It is the kind of game that tends to go unnoticed when you have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each scoring goals, and Zach Hyman finally cashing his first of the season. But even without the spotlight, Nugent-Hopkins will go about his business and do whatever his coach asks of him, and you really notice when he is not in the lineup. That should not surprise anyone for the longest tenured Oiler. There is a reason every coach in the long list of coaches he has had has loved him, and Saturday afternoon was yet another example of why you Keep Nuge Forever.
ZACH HYMAN GETS ON THE BOARD
It has been a grind for Zach Hyman in the seven games he has played since returning from his wrist injury. It is a lot to go out in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final, recover from the required surgery, miss training camp, the pre-season, and the first month of the season, so it was always going to take a minute for ZMH to get back up to game speed. It’s one thing to be healthy enough to play, but another story entirely to get back up to NHL game speed. That is why I was so pumped to see him cash in his first goal of the year on what was a lucky bounce off his skate on Leon Draisaitl’s low shot attempt. It was the most Zach Hyman goal that Zach Hyman could ever score. You never question the effort when it comes to Hyman, but sometimes it is nice to get a lucky one from time to time to crack the floodgates open.
And to think that it was his first goal in more than six months makes you believe that goal must have felt damned good, even though it was not the prettiest thing you will ever see. That bodes well for an Oilers offence that can always use more drivers. Hyman finished the game with two points (1G, 1A), two shots, one hit, and a plus-one rating in only 15:27 of TOI. Clearly, the coaching staff is still working Hyman into the mix tactfully after all the time he has missed, but he is also a guy who scores in bunches, and I will not be the least bit surprised if this lucky one off his skate kickstarts a run that gets our favourite child author, entrepreneur, and gentleman’s season back on track. We knew it was going to take time, but I am hoping that notching three points in his last five games is the start of better days. The effort is always there, and I would bet Gregor’s money that Saturday’s goal was only the first of many to come.
STUART SKINNER GETS THE SHUTOUT
It’s been a long week of goalie talk around here after a long month of it before that, and with only two games on the schedule this week, there wasn’t a whole lot else to talk about. Start Skinner is taking heat, per tradition. Calvin Pickard is in the same boat. And with both guys getting tagged for four goals apiece on Tuesday, it was fair to wonder how the former would respond in his start on Saturday afternoon in Seattle. So, how did Stuart Skinner respond to allowing four goals on eight shots against the Dallas Stars? With a 26-save shutout. That’s how. If ever there was a way to do it, Stu just worked the playbook perfectly. Whether it was being down shorthanded six times and coming through when needed, or shutting the door in moments when Seattle wasn’t pinned in its own zone, Skinner set a sturdy foundation that his teammates could build upon.
And while the haters will say that it was a one-off or that Seattle cannot score or whatever other excuse comes to mind, Stuart Skinner responded to a rough start and a long week of questioning by not allowing a single puck to get past him. In terms of expectations, that is as good as it gets, and if we are going to pile on Stu when things go sideways, then it is only fair to give him his flowers when he locks things down. This was the exact kind of performance his teammates needed behind them, and it was the exact kind of performance he needed for himself. If the Oilers are going to drag their season back to life, they need more nights where their goaltender gives them a chance instead of drowning in the same mistakes as everyone else. On Saturday, Skinner did his part. And whether you buy into the rumours or not, I’m tipping my cap to the guy for bouncing back as best as you possibly can. Now we’ll see if he can build upon it… if he’s still around… if you buy into the rumours.
THE SAUCE W/ RYDER AND LISA
Wake up with Ryder and Lisa on The Sauce! Your new chaotic morning show streaming live from 8-10AM MST every weekday on Oilersnation YouTube starting Monday November 3rd. It’s unpredictable, unfiltered, and totally them. Like, follow and subscribe to never miss an episode!
