GDB 26.0 Wrap Up: Winning streak reaches eight games as Oilers cruise past Blackhawks
7 months ago
The Edmonton Oilers are unstoppable.
On Tuesday, it was the first edition of the Battle of Connors, with the younger (Bedard) opening the scoring. However, the Oilers took control of the game afterwards, scoring four goals to win the game 4-1. Edmonton’s record now sits at 13-12-1 to be over .500 for the first time all season.
Let’s look at the Oilersnation’s Player of the Game, as well as things worth mentioning.
THE WRAP UP IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY
Oilersnation’s Player of the Game: Sam Gagner
How great is it to have Papa Oiler back for his third stint?
On Tuesday, he scored his fourth goal of the season, while also picking up his third assist for a total of seven points in the 14 games he’s played in.
Out of any player that regularly plays in the bottom six, he is second in points behind Warren Foegele’s four goals and 10 points in 26 games. Gagner deserves a longer look in the top six as the 34-year-old still has plenty of skill and scoring left to offer.
Things worth mentioning:
Zach Hyman’s contract has only gotten better with time, as he scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season. With 28 points on the season, he’s on pace to have an even better year than in 2022-23, where he had a 1.05 point per game pace (compared to 1.12 this season.) He keeps getting better.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has been putting together a sneakily good season. The longest-serving Oiler scored his sixth goal of the season and has 25 points in 26 games this season. He’s been playing on a line with Connor McDavid and Hyman, and it’s just been pure domination.
Stuart Skinner saved 22 of 23 shots for a .957 save percentage on Tuesday. Since the Oilers started their 11-3-0 run back on November 11th, Skinner has a 10-2-0 record with a .914 save percentage. Slowly but surely, his numbers are getting better, as he’s up to an .890 save percentage for the season.
Evan Bouchard’s point streak continued, as he assisted on two of Edmonton’s goals on Tuesday. He now has eight goals and 30 points in 26 games and is, at worst, a borderline elite offensive defenceman. The defence is coming around as well.
Edmonton’s penalty kill has been phenomenal as of late, killing off 25 of 26 attempts since the November 22 game against Carolina. It’s been a huge reason for their success, and if you expand the scope to their November 11 game, Edmonton has killed off 37 of 41 attempts. I don’t know the last time it was this good.
The Oilers return to action when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and then they’ll finish off this six-game homestand with a game against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. The Oilers only trail the Arizona Coyotes by a single point with two games in hand, so there’s a chance they could be in a playoff spot after Thursday. Furthermore, they can match a franchise record win streak with a win, as they’ve hit the nine-game mark twice in team history.
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