The losing streak is over!
On Saturday evening, the Oilers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 3-1 to snap a five-game losing streak, their longest skid since all the way back in the 2021-22 season. Let’s take a look at what went down.
Just over five minutes into the game, the Hurricanes were on the tail end of their power play when the Oilers forced a turnover and broke out two-on-two. After a move at the blueline, Mattias Janmark got a pass across to Adam Henrique, who tapped the puck in to make the score 1-0. 
For the first time in nearly a month (February 5 being the last time), the Oilers took a two-goal lead. Late in the second period after a brief cycle, Leon Draisaitl came on the ice and found Corey Perry sitting on the doorstep for the second Oiler goal of the game.
The Hurricanes scored a power-play goal in the third period to bring the score to 2-1. Mikko Rantanen found Sebastian Aho with an excellent cross-zone pass and the Finn made no mistake. 
The home team made it very difficult for the Oilers to escape with a win and end their losing streak. Carolina put a lot of pressure on Edmonton in the third period but Calvin Pickard stood tall, highlighted by this huge save after a turnover on the power play.
The Oilers had a few chances to score into the open net when the Hurricanes pulled Frederik Anderson for an extra attacker. Evan Bouchard finally launched a goal into the yawning cage with milliseconds left on the clock.

Takeaways….

This was the best game for the Oilers since the 4 Nations Face-Off break ended. They were a lot tighter defensively and even registered 30+ shots for the first time since February 5. 
Calvin Pickard put together a fantastic goaltending performance, allowing just one goal for a .972 save percentage. That included a massive breakaway save in the final minute of the game. Hard to argue he doesn’t deserve another start against John Gibson and the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
Leon Draisaitl’s goal streak ended at seven games, as he once again failed to bury a puck into an empty net, with the Hurricanes defender making a terrific save. Still, he picked up two assists, so his point streak was extended to ten games. 
On the flip side, Evan Bouchard’s goal with 0.3 left in the game was his tenth of the season. It also happened to be his first power play goal of the season. Bad, right? Well, that also means he has nine even strength goals.
This nightmare road trip is finally over and the Oilers will head home to face the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. After that, they’ll host the Montréal Canadiens and Dallas Stars before another Eastern Conference road trip, this time against Buffalo and the New York Metropolitan teams.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.