For golf fans, it’s The Masters tournament this weekend, which is a yearly event named in honour of the ‘masters of golf‘ who competed in it.

For hockey fans, especially Oilers fans, the last two games have shown their captain, Connor McDavid, putting on masterful performances, climbing to the top of the NHL points leaderboard, and proving to the hockey world who is still truly the master of the sport.

With that in mind, in this edition of Oilers Thoughts, we dive into McDavid’s masterclass of performances over the last couple of games, the impact and bounce-backs of three first-year Oilers, along with some fun stats and facts from the recent stretch of games.

On April 6, the NHL account on X posted the question, “Who will take home the Hart Trophy this season?” and gave three choices: Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon, and Macklin Celebrini. I cannot confirm nor deny that Connor McDavid saw that post, but on the slightest chance he did, he likely would’ve channelled his inner Michael Jordan meme and said, “…and I took that personally.”

Over the last two games, McDavid has been a man on a mission, locked in and dialled. Insert whichever phrase you like best, he’s playing out of this world right now.

McDavid’s motor was on max speed against the Utah Mammoth on April 7, finishing the night with two points. It was highlighted by the highlight-reel goal he scored on the power play, winding up in his zone, gaining speed, passing the puck off the wall to himself, and tucking it around netminder Karel Vejmelka.

The Oilers’ captain decided the next night that the settings the San Jose Sharks would be playing at might as well have been set to ‘Rookie mode,’ as it seemed like he was repeatedly mashing his own speed burst button, skating around them with ease, and looking like a man among children.

That said, McDavid registered his 14th career five-point night, finishing with three goals and two assists, and none played prettier than when he wound up with some crossovers, gained speed, zipped by two Sharks defenders, slipped past a sprawling Alex Nedeljkovic, and tucked the puck into the net.

And perhaps the best part of that whole sequence was Nedeljkovic sitting in his crease after the goal, fishing the puck out of the net and tossing it with his glove in a “what can ya do?” kind of manner — on a night when the Oilers’ superstar played one of the best regular-season games of his career in a 5-2 Edmonton win.

Sportsnet’s Jack Michaels said on the broadcast last game, “McDavid looks like he can do absolutely anything he wants.” He’s recorded seven points over the last two games, sitting atop the points race with 133, putting himself back into the Hart Trophy conversation, and he’s so close to reaching the 50-goal plateau.

But above all, the captain is turning it up at the perfect time, and as Tyler Yaremchuk noted, McDavid’s play should have the Western Conference feeling a little scared.

Josh Samanski has only played 21 NHL games, but with each one, his solid plays stand out more and more.

Last game against the Sharks, he put on a defensive clinic on one particular shift. He had a good chance to score in the second period off a Trent Frederic pass. Moments later, as the Sharks tried to break out, he tipped the puck away to prevent a breakaway, lost his stick in a battle, and did everything he possibly could to stop the Sharks from gaining possession, swiping the puck away with his hand.

That type of dedicated shift is what will earn him more trust from his coaches, and for him, it’s also a confidence-building shift.

On that note, I’ve read and interacted with folks who say, ‘well, he doesn’t have much offence,’ and I think that because Oilers fans are blessed with watching McDavid make incredible, superman highlight-reel plays, the subtleties in Samanski’s offensive game can sometimes get overlooked.

I’ve mentioned this before, Samanski doesn’t have flashy offence, but he makes very good, subtle plays with smart anticipation to set up his linemates for quality scoring chances, and it’s something you need to watch for. An example came last game against the Sharks in the first period — he intercepted a puck and slid it over to Jake Walman, who ripped it off the post.

Also, Samanski is incorporating more curl-and-drag shots into his game, which, to me, is a sign that he’s feeling more comfortable offensively. Once his linemates start burying more of the chances he sets up, his confidence will grow, and we should start to see him bury more pucks as well.

Jack Roslovic had a very tough night against the Utah Mammoth on April 7. He turned the puck over twice, both leading to goals against, and failed to get in front of a shot on goal that tied it 5-5 for Utah, finishing the night at minus-3 in one of his worst performances of the season.

Nearly 24 hours later, he redeemed himself with a strong game against San Jose.

He showed signs of that turnaround early last game. In the first period, he picked the pocket of a Shark at the blue line and went in all alone, but couldn’t bury his breakaway chance.

In the next period on the power play, Roslovic received the 70-foot pass from McDavid and was sent in all alone once again and pulled off a nice backhand deke to beat the Sharks’ netminder.

To top it off, on McDavid’s hat-trick goal, Roslovic showed his willingness to battle away from the puck — laying a heavy hit that caused a turnover, dropping the puck to the captain, and then going in 2-on-1 with McDavid to pick up an assist.

To me, Roslovic’s quick rebound was huge. He’s a streaky player who can go cold, but it’s encouraging that he turned things around so quickly. With key players out, the team needs every bit of the best Jack Roslovic they can get.

Colton Dach is proving he wasn’t just an add-on in the trade for him and Jason Dickinson from the Chicago Blackhawks, making an impression in his first two games back after missing 12 with an injury.

Against Utah, he was impactful in his 14:01 of ice time. He led the team with five hits, tried to get a Mammoth player to drop his gloves, registered three shots on net, and scored his first goal as an Oiler.

Also, the underlying metrics show just how much he tilted the ice for the Oilers against the Mammoth. According to Natural Stat Trick, at five-on-five, he led the team in Corsi with a 66.67 CF%, shots-for percentage at 64.29 SF% (9-5), expected goals for percentage at 77.10 xGF%, scoring chances-for percentage at 73.33 SCF%, and high-danger chances-for percentage at 71.43 HDCF.

Against the Sharks, he played 12:27 minutes, threw seven hits, and posted a 66 SF%, 60.63 xGF%, and 60 SCF% at five-on-five.

Overall, in two games, Dach has thrown 12 hits, scored a nice goal, and created tons of momentum. With the way he’s played so far, he’s forcing the coaching staff to make some tough bottom-six lineup decisions come playoff time.

-Vasily Podkolzin scored his 19th goal last game against the Sharks, putting him at 37 points this season, which is the point total I predicted for him before the season started. Still, I’d love for him to prove me wrong in the remaining three games and hit the prediction his skills coach, Ned Lukacevic, made last summer when he told Podkolzin, “You’re going to get 20 goals and 20 assists next season.”

– Matt Savoie took a penalty against Utah in overtime on April 7, and received another one last game when he hooked Vincent Desharnais. Interestingly, Savoie hadn’t taken a penalty in 21 games before that, but now has them in back-to-back games.

– Connor McDavid certainly likes to play with Macklin Celebrini, and by the numbers, it looks like he likes playing against him, too. Among other first overall picks, McDavid’s points-per-game (PPG) is the highest against Celebrini at 2.71, with Sidney Crosby second highest at 2.00.

– Since returning from injury on April 2, Trent Frederic has led the team in hits with 15 over four games. Additionally, he’s tallied an assist, and at five-on-five, his metrics are solid, posting a 51.22 SCF%, 55 HDCF%, and 56.67 xGF% in that span.

– Evan Bouchard’s two-point effort last game put him at 91 points, reaching the 90-point plateau for the first time in his career. It’s an incredible feat and a reminder for Oilers fans to pump the brakes when thinking the sky is falling after a slow first month of the season. Nevertheless, since 1995, the only other defencemen to reach 90 points in a season are Cale Makar, Roman Josi, Quinn Hughes, and Erik Karlsson. That’s a club with some truly elite company.

Edmonton hockey fans — think you and your crew know playoff hockey? Prove it at the Nation Playoff Draft Party on Friday, April 17th at the River Cree Resort & Casino. Build your playoff roster, compete against other teams throughout the postseason, and battle for $2,500 cash and Nation bragging rights. Team entry is $1,000 for groups of 8, which includes dinner and your first bevy. The night will be hosted by Ryder & Lisa from The Sauce and Tyler & Liam from ON Everyday, so expect plenty of energy, competition, and chirps. Spots are limited — sign your team up now at nationgear.ca. All proceeds from the event support KidSport Edmonton, helping ensure local kids can stay in the game.