The word on the streets is that the Edmonton Oilers might be back.
There were whispers after their win over the Islanders that grew louder after a Sunday night win against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. But after they came out and shellacked the Utah Hockey Club 7-1 on Tuesday night, it’s clear to see this team is here to play.
With all their remaining regular season games coming against Western Conference teams, it couldn’t come at a better time.
What might be most important about the Oilers’ recent games is where the goals have been coming from. Zach Hyman had a pair, while Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Vasily Podkolzin, Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm all got into the goal column Tuesday night.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has been vocally critical of the team in recent weeks amid a big slide in their results. After a loss to Buffalo last week, he talked about how players who aren’t contributing offensively can’t be making costly defensive turnovers that lead to goals against. When they fell to the Devils three days later, he spoke about how some of the players playing in the top six alongside McDavid and Draisaitl have gotten away from their own games, often just deferring to the super stars.
That formula clearly wasn’t working, and thus a shift in the lines came forth, dropping Nugent-Hopkins to the third line alongside Arvidsson and Podkolzin Sunday against the Rangers, helping lead to a 3-1 win in which The Nuge had three points. They ran it back once again, and after the win over Utah which Nugent-Hopkins had another three-point night, Knoblauch talked about how those three have been able to play their own games.
“Those three have been playing real well,” he said. “They should be a good line. For the most part, those three have been on our top six for most of the year, so they’re good hockey players, but also those three playing together, they’ve been able to play their game.
“Playing in the top-six, you play a different style. Those three, especially Arvidsson and Podkolzin, have been able to simplify their game, play a little north-south, and drive the puck to the net a litle bit more. Ryan is a tremendous playmaker — he can find those guys. All three of them are pretty good defensively, so there’s a lot to like on that line.”
And while there’s always a chance Nugent-Hopkins could elevate back to the top line, it sounds like it won’t happen anytime soon.
“The matchup, the other team we’re playing, if we’re on the road, stuff like that, he can certainly move back to left wing,” said Knoblauch of Nugent-Hopkins. “We know that that can be useful for us, but right now, it looks great and we’re going to ride it for a while.”
The sample sizes are small, but that’s no reason to not give this lineup as its currently constructed more run. The Oilers coaching staff has struggled to find the right mix of lines all season long, blending them on a seemingly night-in and night-out basis. It’s led to issues of its own as players have struggled to find chemistry together, and could be a part of why wingers like Podkolzin, Arvidsson, and Jeff Skinner have struggled to find consistency in their own game over the 68 games the team has played thus far.
But when you have players like Nugent-Hopkins talking about how he feels more comfortable up the middle of the ice like he is now, it should be the indication this group needs some runway.
“You’re touching the puck a lot more, you’re definitely involved on every play,” he said of centring his own line. “Sometimes on the wing you’re up and down a little bit, but I think at centre, I’m definitely still a little more comfortable at centre.
“It’s the position I’ve played most of my life. You’re touching it a little more, you can get your feet going, and you’re involved a little bit more.”
Edmonton’s run through the Western Conference continues Thursday night when the Winnipeg Jets come to town.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
