Am I petty enough to want the Edmonton Oilers to destroy the St. Louis Blues just because of this past summer’s offer sheets? Yes. Yes, I am. And thanks to some late-game heroics on Leon Draisaitl’s 37th goal of the year that sent the game to overtime, we can enjoy another win over the golf-bound Blues. It wasn’t the prettiest 3-2 Oilers win you’ll ever see, but it was still beautiful to me.

I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, but does anyone else think a player as talented as Connor McDavid should have more than 22 goals? The guy is a point machine, and he’s always been a pass-first kind of player, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish he was more selfish sometimes. His quick wrist shot is so lethal that it’s almost annoying that he doesn’t use it more. That said, how do you criticize a guy when he’s on pace for yet another 100+ point campaign?

Even so, I sometimes fantasize about McDavid’s 64-goal season. Do you remember how out of his mind No. 97 played that year? He wasted no opportunity to shoot the puck back in 2022-23, and the result was a Rocket Richard trophy and one of the most memorable individual seasons on record. While I don’t expect Connor even to get back to 64 goals, what I do wish he would carry with him more is that willingness to pull the trigger. That shot of his is as good as they get in the NHL, and I will be forever grateful to anyone who can get him to use it more.

I don’t think I’m talking out of school when I say the Jeff Skinner experiment hasn’t exactly gone as planned here in Edmonton. The guy has been in and out of the lineup, and when he is playing, it’s mostly in a bottom-six role that he’s probably never had in his life. Yet, even with the ups and downs and an average of 12:28 in TOI, Skinner has still managed to put nine goals and is more recently finding ways to be effective even when he doesn’t have the puck.

If he can keep playing reasonable hockey in a two-way capacity, there’s no way that Kris Knoblauch can keep him out of the lineup. And when you look at his last few games, there have been more than a few moments when Jeff Skinner’s defensive play has prevented a quality chance or even a goal. Take the play in the clip above as an example. If Skinner isn’t there checking the late man, that is an easy goal for Jordan Kyrou. It may only be a small moment here and there, but what’s clear is that Skinner isn’t sulking about the spot he’s in. You can tell he’s trying.

Who knows if moments like the above will be enough for Kris Knoblauch and co, but wouldn’t it be nice if we can squeeze a little more juice out of one of our July 1st gambles. Dare to dream, friends. Dare to dream.

Up by a goal with 20 minutes to play, the Oilers looked to be in good shape for snapping their losing streak and kicking off this last week before the 4 Nations break with a win. The Oilers had only lost twice in regulation when leading after 40 minutes, and the Blues had only won three games when down heading into the third period, which had me feeling good about locking down two points. Unfortunately, the Oilers pulled out the Reverse Uno card, and instead of starting slow in the first period, they waited for the third period to take their foot off the gas.

After running the show for most of the game, all it took was a lull by the Oilers for just under four minutes that allowed St. Louis to get goals from Jordan Kyrou and Colton Parayko. The Oilers went from being in the lead to down by a goal in a snap. I don’t know what’s going on with the boys lately that’s causing them to stink up short blocks of time lately, but it’s an issue that Kris Knoblauch needs to solve before the playoffs. We can’t be having the boys cough up leads to teams have otherwise mediocre efforts when the games matter most, can we? Of course not.

The good news is that a late goal by Leon Draisail — a goal that counted this time(!!!) — replaced what would have been a disappointing loss with the chance to win in overtime. And listen, I love that the Oilers pulled this win out even when the outcome looked grim for a few minutes, but we can’t be making a habit of gifting teams four or five minutes of snoozy hockey every night. It bit them in the ass on Saturday, and they were damned close to having the same thing happen against the Blues even if it happened in the third period instead of the first. When the Oilers are on their game they’re nearly impossible to beat, but the trick is keeping that going for 60 minutes.

After Saturday’s loss against the Leafs, a lot of us — myself included — weren’t overly pumped with the way Stuart Skinner played in the first period. Yes, the team started slowly, but he didn’t do as much as we needed to weather that storm. At the other end of the rink, the Leafs were getting top-notch netminding from Joseph Woll, but the Oilers didn’t get the key saves they needed at times when it mattered most.

But as I also mentioned on Saturday that it’s only fair to give him props when he plays well, and I thought he did that against St. Louis. Skinner made some huge saves in this hockey game, especially early on some odd-man breaks and high-danger shots from the slot. While he wasn’t as busy as Binnington, he was still called upon to make some big saves. The .909 save percentage may not be the sexiest number you’ll ever see, but it was enough to get the job done, including some big moments that kept his team in the fight.

1. By ourselves in first place in the Pacific Division.

2. How many of you had Connor Brown scoring the OT winner on your Bingo card? Show of hands. Let me see ’em. I’ll admit I was surprised when I saw him on the ice with Connor McDavid, but I was also pleased as punch that he was a right-handed shot after the captain dangle the entire Blues squad before setting his junior teammate up for the winner. That goal was Brown’s first in 22 games, and I’ll be Klima’d if the drought didn’t end at the best possible time.

3. Wouldn’t it be super cool if Viktor Arvidsson could score a goal soon? Yeah. That would be super cool. We’ve spoken a lot about the Jeff Skinner experiment, but when are we going to start talking about the Arvidsson experiment?

4. Was that first period one of the fastest periods of NHL hockey you’ve ever seen? It seemed to me that those 20 minutes flew by in a snap. I’m not sure I’ve seen a period with so few whistles before. Wild.

5. I know they only got one opportunity with the man advantage but St. Louis got the job done with that chance, making it two straight games where the Oilers’ PK has been shut out. On the brighter side, the power play came through with a goal by McDavid to open the scoring, wrapping up the night at 1/3 with the man advantage.

6. There must have been a Nelly concert in St. Louis last night or something because that arena was empty.

7. Were you waiting for me to tell you about the Oilers’ faceoff numbers? You were, weren’t you? Well, I hope you’re sitting down because the Oilers won only 36.2% of the draws. Not ideal, friends. Not in the slightest.