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Oilers Game Notes: Top spot in Pacific within reach as winning streak grows
Photo credit: © Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
The Oilers are riding a season-high four-game winning streak, and with the Ducks dropping three consecutive games, Edmonton has suddenly put itself within striking distance of first place in the Pacific Division.
With the basement-dwelling Blackhawks in town, this is a chance to increase the pressure on a young Anaheim team.
Chicago Blackhawks @ Edmonton Oilers
- Date: Thursday, April 2
- Start Time: 7:00 PM MT
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta
- Venue: Rogers Place
- Watch: Sportsnet
1. After going most of the season without being able to string more than two wins together, the Oilers are finally settling into a groove at the right time.
Last week, Edmonton swept a two-game road trip with wins in Utah and Vegas, then returned home and beat Anaheim on Saturday afternoon to open a four-game homestand. A 3-0 victory over Seattle on Tuesday made it four straight wins, the longest streak the team has had since winning Games 2 through 5 of the Western Conference Final and Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final last spring.
The Ducks, meanwhile, have dropped two more games since their loss in Edmonton last weekend. They blew a 3-1 third-period lead against the struggling Maple Leafs before John Tavares won it in overtime. Anaheim followed that with a 4-3 loss to San Jose, where the Sharks scored the tying and winning goals in the final two minutes of the third period.
2. The Oilers and Ducks both have seven games remaining on their schedules.
Edmonton will host Chicago and Vegas before heading out on the road to face Utah, San Jose, and Los Angeles. The Oilers will then wrap up the season at home against Colorado and Vancouver.
Anaheim opens a five-game homestand on Friday against St. Louis. The Ducks will also host Calgary, Nashville, San Jose, and Vancouver before closing out the season with road games against the Wild and Predators.
3. The Ducks currently lead the Pacific Division by two points, sitting at 41-29-5, while Edmonton is 38-28-9.
The Oilers will very likely have the tiebreaker if the two teams wind up with the same number of points after 82 games, with 29 regulation wins to Anaheim’s 24. If the Ducks manage to hurdle Edmonton in that category down the stretch, we won’t need to worry about a tie for first place.
4. Edmonton’s best four-game stretch of the season has not only been timely, but it has also come while the team is dealing with some significant adversity.
Leon Draisaitl suffered a regular-season-ending injury in the first period of a 3-1 win over Nashville in mid-March. The Oilers followed that with a win over San Jose, then dropped back-to-back games by scores of 4-0 and 5-2 to Florida and Tampa Bay.
Since those two lopsided losses, Edmonton has won four consecutive games against three playoff teams and one team fighting for a playoff spot, outscoring opponents 16-7 in the process.
5. The seven goals against during this winning streak are easily the lowest total in any four-game stretch since mid-January, when Edmonton posted back-to-back shutouts over Vancouver and St. Louis in between 1-0 and 2-1 losses to the Islanders and Devils.
Since then, the Oilers have gone through six different four-game stretches with inconsistent results. They allowed 18 goals in wins over Pittsburgh, Washington, Anaheim, and San Jose, then 22 goals in four straight losses to Minnesota, Toronto, Calgary, and Anaheim around the Olympic break.
That stretch was followed by a month of uneven play. The Oilers went 2-2 against Los Angeles, San Jose, Ottawa, and Carolina, allowing 16 goals. They then split four games against Vegas, Colorado, Dallas, and St. Louis, giving up 15 goals, followed by another 2-2 stretch against Nashville, San Jose, Florida, and Tampa Bay, allowing 13.
The last four games, of course, have resulted in four wins, with just seven goals allowed.
Interestingly, the two best defensive stretches of 2026 have both come without Draisaitl in the lineup. He also missed games against Vancouver, St. Louis, and New Jersey earlier in the year due to a personal matter.
6. Losing Draisaitl hasn’t suddenly made the Oilers a better team, but it has forced adjustments. His absence has put pressure on other players to step up offensively while also pushing the team to place a greater emphasis on defensive play.
Matthew Savoie has moved into a top-six role and has three goals in his last four games. Since the Nashville game, Connor McDavid has driven the offence with six goals and 14 points in eight games, putting himself firmly at the front of the Hart Trophy conversation.
Edmonton’s penalty kill has allowed just one goal on 11 opportunities during this four-game winning streak. Trade deadline additions Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy have played key roles, while Darnell Nurse and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have also been steady contributors.
Both goaltenders have been solid as well. Connor Ingram has stopped 84 of 89 shots across three starts, while Tristan Jarry turned aside 16 of 18 shots in his first appearance in nearly two weeks.
While the Oilers have found success in multiple areas without Draisaitl, his absence has been felt on the power play. Edmonton has gone 0-for-9 with the man advantage over the last four games.
7. For the Oilers to make a deep playoff run this spring, they need to get Leon Draisaitl back and fully healthy while also maintaining the level of play they’ve shown without him.
Too often, Edmonton has defaulted to waiting for McDavid and Draisaitl to create something, with the coaching staff leaning on both players together every second shift when games get tight.
This stretch without Draisaitl, along with a similar run earlier in January, shows that the Oilers are capable of grinding out low-scoring wins when every player in the lineup is committed to a clearly defined role.
8. The Blackhawks are limping into this match against Edmonton on a four-game losing streak and with only two wins in their last ten games.
Since moving Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy to the Oilers ahead of the deadline, Chicago’s penalty kill has taken a noticeable step back. From October through the beginning of March, the Blackhawks killed off 85.7 percent of opposing power plays. In the 14 games since the March 6 trade deadline, that number has dropped to 74.4 percent.
9. The Oilers will be getting some reinforcements to their lineup in the coming days.
Trent Frederic, who’s missed the team’s last five games, is available to play on Thursday, and Colton Dach will be ready to return from an undisclosed injury later this week.
It won’t be easy to make changes while the team is winning, but having Frederic and Dach available only adds to the internal competition the team is dealing with right now.
What they said…
Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch on finding room for injured players to return to the lineup…
“It’s going to be a very difficult decision. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what we need to do going forward. I think it’s important that everyone stays involved and gets to play a little bit, because during the playoffs, there are always injuries, and you don’t want someone sitting for weeks and then being called on.“We’ve got a lot of good players in the lineup right now, and we’re going to have more.”
Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard on the importance of special teams heading into the stretch run…
“I think the excitement is building with the playoffs around the corner. It’s a good time for us to get on a run.”“Special teams are going to be a big part of these games. Even without power play goals, our penalty kill has really stepped up. If we can start chipping in on the power play, it’s going to make a big difference for us.”
Final word…
This four-game winning streak by the Oilers, coupled with three straight losses by the Ducks, has turned the Pacific Division into a late-season race. With a struggling Blackhawks team in town, Edmonton has a chance to push that streak to five and move into a tie with Anaheim for first place.
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Breaking News
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