With just over a month left before the playoffs, the team needs to settle into a groove of consistently solid efforts, or risk getting knocked out much sooner than they’d like.

Last week featured a mixed bag of efforts and results. The Oilers impressed with a win over the NHL-leading Avalanche on Tuesday, then followed it with a lopsided loss in Dallas and an overtime defeat in St. Louis after blowing a third-period lead.

On Sunday, Edmonton bounced back with a gritty 3-1 win over the Predators, a team also desperate for points in the wild-card race. Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring with a power-play marker three minutes into the first period, Matt Savoie added to the lead in the second, and Zach Hyman buried an insurance goal into Nashville’s empty net late in the third. Connor Ingram turned aside 26 of 27 shots in his first game since being named the starting goaltender.

What looked like a simple win over a middling opponent on paper was anything but. Shortly after his opening goal, Draisaitl was drilled in the defensive zone by Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt. The German pivot limped to the dressing room, returned for a few shifts, and then exited the game in the second period.

The Oilers weren’t rattled by the loss of one of their star forwards. Jason Dickinson moved up to the second line and logged just under 19 minutes, his fourth-highest total of the season. Vasily Podkolzin dropped the gloves with towering Nashville defender Nicolas Hague in the first period, and Jake Walman got revenge on Wiesblatt when the winger had his head down trying to receive a pass.

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BIG HIT FROM JAKE WALMAN ON OZZY WIESBLATT 😮‍💨

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1:27 AM · Mar 16, 2026

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It was a strong response from a team whose performances have sometimes seemed as random as a roll of the dice on any given night. The NHL season is a marathon rather than a sprint, and the Oilers are surely hoping to save their best hockey for April, May, and perhaps June.

With three more home games on tap, Edmonton finds itself in a prime position to build one of those elusive winning streaks. An emotional win over Nashville was a step in the right direction. Now we’ll see if the Oilers can carry that effort into the rest of the week.

What they said…

Head coach Kris Knoblauch’s post-game update on Leon Draisaitl’s injury…

“He didn’t feel right. He went off, he got checked out, and felt like he could play on it. The medical staff looked at him and they were comfortable with him trying it out. He went out and he just didn’t feel quite right.”
“The fact that the medical staff said it doesn’t seem too bad and there’s no immediate red flags, it tells me that it shouldn’t be a really long injury. There might be some time off, but we’ll find out later.”

Matt Savoie on the Oilers stepping up in Draisaitl’s absence…

“Lots of guys had to step up. I think we have a lot of guys in here who can play bigger roles and fill in when needed. When it’s a player like Leon, it has to be a committee effort — guys stepping up in different roles and contributing to us having success. This is a big part of our season and we need to string together some wins to put ourselves in a good spot.”

Zach Hyman on the Oilers wanting to win the game for Draisaitl…

“I think you saw an emotional response, which is really good,” Hyman said. “Guys sticking up for Leo, one of the best players in the world. If guys want to take runs at him, there’s going to be a response. Then you want to win the game for him.”
“We’re at a point in the season where we don’t have a choice. We have to play well, we have to win games, we have to close games out, and we have to play strong defensively. We did all those things. It was a good team effort from our goalie all the way out.”

Nashville head coach Andrew Brunette on his team’s effort in Edmonton…

“I liked our game, even from the start. We knew they’d be a desperate team. I thought we handled ourselves pretty well. Obviously we gave up the PK goal a little early, but I thought it was a battle out there. They’re a very good hockey team.
“The power play didn’t connect and kind of let us down tonight. We hit the crossbar, hit the post. It was another one of those games we’ve been in a million times, we just didn’t end up on the right side of it.”

Predators captain Roman Josi on trying to push for a wild-card playoff position…

“We’ve got to play the way we do in the middle of games or late in games, and we’ve got to come out like that with confidence. We’re in a playoff race. We’ve got to go after it. We’ve got to win games consistently. We’ve got to go out and try to win the game and not just hope to win the game.”

Up next…

The Oilers will continue their homestand this week with three more games at Rogers Place. Edmonton hosts the Sharks for an important Pacific Division matchup on Tuesday, before the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning visit on Thursday and Saturday.

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