Stanley Cup champions win on the road.

Edmonton has been a good road team since Kris Knoblauch arrived. They are 18-10-1, but they are 2-3-1 in their last six road games. Losses in Ottawa, Toronto, Columbus and a shootout loss in Buffalo are a good reminder the Oilers need to be sharper on the road in April.

The last three Stanley Cup champions were a combined 23-8 on the road. If you want to win the Cup, you need to play well away from home.

The Oilers can play well on the road. Their last road game in Winnipeg was one of their best of the season. They were physical. They were poised. Stuart Skinner was sharp, and the Oilers got timely scoring throughout their lineup. That is the recipe for playoff success and with road games in St. Louis, Dallas, Calgary, Arizona and Colorado this month, the Oilers need to enter the playoffs confident in how they play on the road.

They’ve become one of the most dominant home teams in the NHL. They are 24-4-2 since Knoblauch arrived. They are crushing teams and are averaging almost two more goals scored per game. They’ve produced 4.37 goals/game and allowed only 2.47. They were solid on the road, before the recent four hiccups, and tonight against the golf-course-bound St. Louis Blues, the Oilers need a mature performance.

The Blues should come out with some fire. They were embarrassed at home on Saturday, losing to the lowly San Jose Sharks. Not only did they lose, but they were shutout 4-0 on home ice. They had a brutal second period getting outshot 12-3 and outscored 3-0 by the worst team in the NHL. They dominated the third period outshooting San Jose 21-5, but they couldn’t score on MacKenzie Blackwood. Head coach Drew Bannister wasn’t impressed, and if his players want him to be their head coach next season (he still has the interim tag) then they will need better efforts in April.

Meanwhile, the Oilers skate into St. Louis riding a three-game winning streak. They played very well in Winnipeg, and continued their sound play in victories over Los Angeles and Anaheim. The Oilers know they are good, and when they get rolling, we’ve seen them go on long winning streaks of 16, eight and five games. They also have shown an ability to remember bad performances and avenge them. The Oilers had a dreadful second period in St. Louis on February 15th, when they allowed four goals on their way to a 6-3 loss. They seem to have a bit of the Michael Jordan “And I took that personally” mentality lately and it has helped them.