Love them or hate them, there’s never a dull moment when it comes to the Edmonton Oilers.

They had their best come-from-behind win of the season last game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, featuring their first fight of the season, magic from the captain, and big goals and saves when it mattered most.

That said, that win was enormous. With the Oilers about to go on a long seven-game road trip, the victory provided some big positives instead of the doom and gloom that would have followed a loss. It offered hope for a potential season turnaround, while also raising some questions with a difficult trip ahead, which we’ll take a closer look at below.

Trent Frederic got an earful from everyone, the media, the fans, after the blowout 9–1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Of course, the loss wasn’t just on him, but with such a shellacking and many looking for somewhere to point the blame, the little impact he’d made on the 2025–26 season up to that point was magnified because of it.

He’s thrown a bunch of hits this season, but with only one goal and zero fights before the Blue Jackets game, it’s fair to say that when he signed that eight-year, $3.85 million-per-season contract, he likely knew the Oilers weren’t bringing him in just for the hits.

Edmonton, being a city full of blue-collar workers, has seen players of Frederic’s ilk in recent seasons put on their hard hats and not hesitate to drop the gloves to change the momentum of a game; players like Pat Maroon, Zack Kassian, and Corey Perry come to mind.

For Frederic, there was an expectation that he would put on the same hard hat, chip in offensively from time to time, and, equally as important, bring the truculence, nastiness, and gamesmanship needed to swing the momentum of a game, like the players before him, but we hadn’t seen that from him for most of the season, until last game.

It seemed Frederic got the message, picking a fight with one of the baddest in the NHL, the 232-pound Mathieu Olivier, last game. The Oilers forward likely knew he was going to lose the fight — which he did, needing some work on his face afterward — but kudos to him for dropping the mitts and bringing some emotion to the building, nonetheless. Captain Connor McDavid even sang his praises after the game, saying, “Huge credit to Freddy, taking on [Olivier], trying to give us a little spark, can’t say enough good things about him, that was huge.”

Now, Frederic will likely be sporting the battle scars from that fight on the upcoming road trip, and the question is whether his last bout becomes a turning point in his season. That dropping-the-mitts, gamesmanship style shouldn’t be a one-and-done type of thing, but rather something his team and Oilers fans expect from him more regularly, especially given the hefty dollars he’s making.

Given the difficulty of the upcoming road trip, they’ll need that gritty gamesmanship from him, particularly if Tom Wilson starts taking liberties when the Oilers face the Washington Capitals on Nov. 13, a player he’s dropped the gloves with twice in his career.

Before the last game against Columbus, Jack Roslovic had been one of the hottest Oilers, recording seven points in seven games. He cranked the heat a notch higher last game, scoring the huge OT winner against the Blue Jackets and picking up an assist, bringing his total to nine points over the last eight games.

Roslovic has settled into the Oilers’ top six very nicely over the last stretch of games, looking so comfortable playing with either McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. With how settled he is, and now scoring that game-winning goal as his first signature moment as an Oiler, I’m wondering if we’ll see an even higher level from the 28-year-old.

Roslovic blew the roof off of Rogers Place with his OT winner, and I can only imagine that kind of high can become infectious, making players want even more of that. His confidence must be scorching at the moment, with everything he envisioned as a best-case scenario when signing the one-year deal with the Oilers now coming true.

He’s taken on a prominent role on the power play, and with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins out of the lineup for part of the upcoming road trip, Roslovic will be leaned on even more. Moreover, if I’m guessing a big points night from him on the trip, I’d say it could come against another former team of his, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Nov. 15.

Looking at who the captain was paired with heading into the game against the Blue Jackets,  Matt Savoie and Andrew Mangiapane, if I were a betting man, I would’ve certainly wagered on McDavid scoring at least one. No disrespect to Savoie and Mangiapane, but when he’s paired with wingers who are less offensively talented than the likes of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or  Draisaitl, it’s easy to see that the captain might pass less and opt for the “I’ll just do it myself” approach instead.

He did just that last game, going full “video game” McDavid mode — the kind where it’s like someone is mashing the speed burst and deke buttons — scoring two highlight-reel goals that would be the top highlight reel tally of 99.9% of NHLers’ careers, though it’s hard to say if those would even crack McDavid’s top ten.

That said, I like the selfish approach he took last game, driving the puck to the net and challenging defenders one-on-one. Before the season began, he vocalized that he wanted to shoot more and prove that his 64-goal season wasn’t a fluke. However, there have been plenty of instances in prime scoring spots where he’s passed the puck off throughout the season. Yet, lately he’s adopted more of that shooter’s approach, recording four or more shots on goal in four of the last six games, scoring four goals in that span as well.

As Oilersnation’s Woz puts it, the Oilers are in for a tough stretch with a gauntlet schedule coming up, which includes seven straight games on the road, including two back-to-backs. Having said that, a team that hasn’t been consistent all season will likely need a couple of games or more from their captain on this road trip, where he puts the team on his back to help bank points in the win column, and that willingness to take matters into his own hands will be needed.

The blowout loss to the Avalanche had everyone looking for someone to blame, and Stuart Skinner was certainly among those under the microscope. The team in front of him wasn’t playing well, but at the same time, a timely save or two from your netminder could help weather the storm. After allowing four goals on 13 shots, essentially taking the wind out of his team’s sails, he was pulled.

Fast forward to before the game against the Blue Jackets, Skinner said in an interview when discussing his play, “It’s really not about my save percentage, it’s about my win column, the team’s win column. That’s all that matters.” And the game that followed really defined that statement.

The Oilers’ netminder finished the game against Columbus with a .789 save percentage (SV%) while giving up four goals, but he made a gigantic save when it mattered most — sliding side to side to stop Charlie Coyle on a 2-on-1 in overtime. The puck then went the other way, with Roslovic burying the winner to cap off the incredible sequence, banking two points for the Oilers.

That OT save was exactly what Skinner needed — the kind that can inspire hope in teammates, build confidence, and potentially change the trajectory of a season. The question now is whether it will.

Two seasons ago, it took a coaching change for the Oilers to turn their season around, and last season, it took a scrappy fight with Troy Stecher taking on Sean Couturier to shift momentum and earn their first win. Given that pattern, there seems to be a defining moment with these Oilers when you can say, “Yup, that’s where they started getting their act together!”

Perhaps this season’s story of a turnaround is getting their rear ends handed to them 9-1 by the Avalanche, followed by an unbelievable comeback against the Blue Jackets. Last game, you could almost sense the missing magic for most of the season being uncorked; it was like they finally opened the bottle labelled, “Open when down and want a ridiculous comeback.”

It consisted of two magical McDavid goals, Jake Walman scoring the first-ever game-tying shorthanded goal in the final minute of regulation in Oilers’ history, and ended with the poster boy of the Oilers’ inconsistent season, Skinner, making a huge stop en route to Roslovic’s game-winning tally.

That combination just screams, “Oilers are back, baby!” Doesn’t it? Nevertheless, the upcoming seven-game road trip will be a major test of adversity to see if that statement holds. And on another bright note, as Jason Gregor posted, Zach Hyman will return on this trip, which should give the team an even bigger lift.

Take $20 off your first Vivid Seats order of $200+ using promo code OILERSNATION (new customers only, $200 USD minimum before taxes & fees).