Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane, who missed the entire regular season, looks set to make his season debut in Game 2 against the Los Angeles Kings, according to a tweet from Bob Stauffer.

Kane has spent most of the season recovering from injuries, and it’ll be interesting to see how he looks after almost a year away from game action. That said, we’ve seen what he can do since joining Edmonton in 2021 — when he’s on, he’s an absolute force.

Even if he brings just a bit of that fire we’ve seen from him in the past, he’ll inject some extra bite into the lineup. Given that, let’s look back at Kane’s top five playoff moments as an Oiler.

The first-round playoff series between Edmonton and the Los Angeles Kings was tied 1-1 after two games in the 2022 playoffs, and Game 3 was just the start of the goal-scoring tear Kane would go on that postseason.

He recorded a team-high nine shots and scored a hat trick in Game 3. When Kane’s at his best, he creates havoc around the net, and his first two goals came just like that, cleaning up rebounds in tight. The Oilers chased netminder Jonathan Quick from the crease in the second period after he allowed four goals on 19 shots, and Kane completed his hat trick on backup Cal Petersen, burying a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with just under 20 seconds left en route to an 8-2 win for Edmonton.

The first-round playoff series between the Oilers and Kings in 2022 was full of dramatic flair. The Oilers lost Game 5, putting the Kings ahead 3-2 in the series, and to make matters worse, they would be without Darnell Nurse for Game 6 after he was suspended for headbutting Phillip Danault.

That said, Kane rose to the occasion and was one of the best Oilers in Game 6. He assisted on Connor McDavid’s goal in the first period, and he scored one himself early in the second. However, the 2-0 Oilers lead was erased, as the Kings mounted a comeback and tied the game in the second period, but former Oiler Tyson Barrie scored the go-ahead goal with four minutes left in the game.

With the Kings pushing for the equalizer late in the game, they pulled their goalie, but Kane found himself alone on a breakaway, tucking the puck into the empty net for his second of the night.

In Game 5, when L.A. won in Edmonton, Adrian Kempe scored the game-winning goal in OT and held his hand to his ear as if he couldn’t hear the fans at Rogers Place. When Kane scored the empty-netter in Game 6 that sealed the Oilers’ win, he returned the favour, holding up seven fingers to the crowd at Crypto.com Arena.

When Kane was asked in the postgame interview about what his seven fingers signified, he simply said, “It means Game 7, baby,” as the Oilers forced a pivotal Game 7. He further added, “It’s going to be juicy, it’s going to be juicy,” setting the stage for a high-stakes finale at Rogers Place, with the Oilers winning Game 7 by a score of 2-0.

For the first time in 31 years, the Oilers and Calgary Flames met in the playoffs in the second round of the 2022 postseason, with each Alberta team winning one game apiece through the first two games of the series.

On May 22, 2022, with the series heading back to a fired-up Rogers Place for Game 3, Kane put on a show for the ages. Playing on the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the rugged forward scored a natural hat trick in the second period alone — all off the rush, and with style and swagger.

He finished off a pass from Draisaitl for his first goal of the game, then buried two more off feeds from McDavid, capping it with a slick forehand-to-backhand move, as the hats poured down at Rogers Place. All three goals came in just six minutes, electrifying the hometown crowd.

Moreover, it was Kane’s second hat trick of that postseason—the first came against L.A. in the opening round—and at the time, he became the first Oiler to record multiple hat tricks in a single playoff run since Jari Kurri had four in 1985, as the Oilers went on to win the series 4-1. On top of that, Kane was spectacular during that postseason run, tying Nathan MacKinnon for the most goals in the playoffs with 13.

The Oilers faced off against the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vegas came out on top in Game 1, but Edmonton dominated in Game 2.

The Oilers jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead, and naturally, in a heated playoff battle, tensions flared and the gloves started coming off. Late in the second, it all kickstarted with Brett Kulak dropping the mitts with Brett Howden—but at the other end of the rink, a couple other scraps ensued, with Kane squaring off against Keegan Kolesar, landing punches at the Vegas forward while he was down. As they got up to separate, a cheery Golden Knights fan gave the Oilers forward the one-finger salute with both hands, and Kane responded candidly by blowing a kiss.

Thereafter, Nic Hague tried to fight Kane with just over five minutes left in the game, and both received 10-minute misconducts. That said, when Kane was asked about the incident with Kolesar in the postgame, he put it simply, “You don’t see a lot of guys getting jumped from behind and then headlocked,” He added, “When you wanna f*ck around, sometimes you have to find out.”

The first-round series of the 2024 playoffs was tied 1-1 between the Oilers and Kings when Game 3 kicked off at Crypto.com Arena.

Kane went pointless in the Oilers’ first two games of the series, but the fiery forward woke up in Game 3. He was elevated to Leon Draisaitl’s line and set up his centerman for the 2-0 goal in the first period. In the second, he recorded two-thirds of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick when a shot from Cody Ceci deflected off of him to make it 4-1 Oilers.

Then, in the third period, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound former Kings defenceman Andreas Englund nailed Kane with an open-ice hit. A melee ensued, and Kane — no stranger to the rough stuff — dropped the mitts with the Kings defenceman, landed a few punches, and was credited with the win by hockeyfights.com, completing the Gordie Howe hat trick in a 6-1 defeat.

As mentioned, when Kane is on his game, he’s an absolute force to be reckoned with. With that in mind, how do you think Kane will perform in the playoffs, and what kind of impact do you think he’ll bring to the lineup after a year away from the game?