We were on the Nation Vacation to Denver when the Edmonton Oilers last visited the Colorado Avalanche, and the win was a fantastic memory from a wonderful trip with my fellow Nation Citizens. If the boys were going to repeat the result, they’d need to find their legs quickly after getting into town late after their comeback win against the Wild on Wednesday. Even though the Oilers’ start was literally the opposite of getting going early, they still managed to grind out an impressive 4-3 comeback win.

If you cruise around social media as much as I do for this job, you notice funny trends among other fanbases and people who don’t actually pay attention to the Oilers. One of the takes floating around over the last month or so that made me laugh the most suggested Connor McDavid couldn’t score goals anymore. He had been floating around 13-15 goals for a couple of weeks, and while Oilers fans knew it was only a matter of time before he caught fire, the peanut gallery flooded Twitter with their best ideas.

Flash forward to mid-January of 2025, and our captain is NBA Jam-style on fire. With the second-period marker he scored to tie the game at three apiece, McDavid now has five goals in his last six games, and I’d say that more than half of those came at huge moments. Our man is starting to go supernova again, and when that happens, there’s not much that anyone can do about it. The most impressive thing about this heater is that he’s scoring goals in all kinds of ways, and I will never tire of watching him figure out new and creative ways to make NHL players look like idiots.

How good must it have felt for Evan Bouchard to score his first goal in 19 games? The guy has had countless chances over that stretch, but he just couldn’t get anything to go. It was one of those weird stretches were not much seemed to being his way, and you’d have to think he was gripping the stick pretty good after going over a month between goals. Bouchard is a guy who’s used to filling the net on a semi-regular basis, and to go 19 games without scoring must have been weight on him greatly.

The good news is that momentum swings in sports happen every day, and I’m hopeful that Bouchard’s game-winner can be the start of a point run for him. We’ve seen more than a few occasions of Bouchard putting points on the board almost at will, and a big part of that is teams respecting the damage he can do with his shot. Think of how great it would be for this team if getting his eighth goal of the year can be the start of a playoff-like run for Bouchard that happens to come a few months early. Okay, so maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but once thing I know is how a jolt of confidence can bring a positive swing for offensive players, and I’m hopeful that Thursday’s goal can be another instance of that happening.

Did anyone else thing Thursday was going to be a long night? I’ll tell you when I thought the wheels fell off. It was when the Oilers found themselves down by a field goal after the first five shots of the game. We were only 11:48 into the first period, and our heroes were getting worked all over the ice with the added luxury of Stuart Skinner being unable to bail them out. It was the kind of start that had you thinking, “Welp, I wonder if I should be doing literally anything other than this?”

Thankfully, Viktor Arvidsson scored in the final minute of the first period to give the Oilers some life because things looked grim, even with Edmonton outshooting the home side by a 13-6 margin. While the boys certainly produced their share of chances to score, the mistakes they were making were as costly as they were ugly, and that’s a recipe for disaster against an opponent like the Avalanche. Even with the understanding that Edmonton played last night and ultimately completed the comeback, this trend of spotting the other team two or three goals has got to stop.

1. Tied for first place in the Pacific Division, baby! The Oilers are now 19-4-1 in their last 24 games. That’s ridiculous.

2. Shout out to Viktor Arvidsson for scoring his sixth goal of the season with 42 seconds left in the first period on a half-clapper from his off-wing that fooled MacKenzie Blackwood down low. The goal gave the Oilers life when it looked like they were down and out, and was the kind of break Arvidsson wasn’t getting early in the season when nothing was going in for him.

3. Brett Kulak is having such a good year, and if there was an award for the team’s unsung hero, my vote would go to him. Since the season started he’s been asked to fight above his weight class, and not only has he risen to the challenge, but he’s put himself in a position to post career bests in almost every metric. His second period goal on Thursday tied his career-high with six, and narrowed the gap to only a single goal. I love a guy who gets used in tough situations and quietly goes about his business, and Kulak just seems like that kind of player.

4. What a gutsy effort by Stuart Skinner. Even though he’s going to get buried for giving up three goals on the first five shots of the game, he deserves some love for the way he was able to lock things down from there. And it’s not like he had an either final 50 minutes either. Skinner was called upon to make some big saves throughout the final 40 minutes, and had it not been for the way he settled down, the Oilers would have never been able to fight their way back for a win. The .880 save percentage on 25 shots isn’t the sexiest number you’ll ever see, but I think he was better than the box score gives him credit for.

6. If I bring up the two shifts in a row by the fourth line where they pinned the Avalanche in their own zone and eventually scored the 3-2 goal, do you remember the sequence I’m referencing? I kid you not, those two shifts might have been Jeff Skinner’s best as an Oiler. He didn’t score the goal — Kulak did — but the take aways and cycling by Skinner and co. was the reason that goal happened.

7. No one is asking for my opinion about why the Oilers’ power play looked so mediocre against the Avalanche, but I’m going to tell you that they were too stationary and predictable anyway. The Oilers’ PP is a lot more fluid when it’s at its best than we got in Denver. There was a lot of standing around. Too much, I’d said… if anyone asks.

8. On Thursday, January 16th, 2025, the Oilers won 46.7% of their faceoffs against the Avalanche. Not good. End transmission.

We’re beyond excited to announce our latest partnership with Odd Company Brewing to bring you the all-new Nation Beer Everyday Lager! Whether you’re watching the big game, chilling with friends, or just kicking back after a long day, this crisp, refreshing lager is the perfect choice. It’s the brew you can count on anytime, anywhere. So, why not make it your next game-day tradition? Nation Beer Everyday Lager is available now at Odd Company Brewing and through Liquor Connect. Don’t miss out—grab yours today and take your beer game to the next level! Cheers, Nation Citizens!