The Edmonton Oilers haven’t won a game in Columbus since October 30th, 2019. They didn’t play there in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID, and they’ve lost all four visits since, however, the good news is one of the players who always scores against them is now on their team, and he’s scoring big goals for the Blue and Orange.

Jack Roslovic joined Andrew Cogliano as the only Oilers players to score overtime winners in consecutive games. Cogliano owns the franchise record, and NHL record, for scoring the overtime winner in three consecutive games. For one week in March of 2008, Cogliano was the most clutch goal scorer in the league.

On March 7th in Columbus, Cogliano scored the OT winner at 1:53 to give Edmonton a 2-1 victory.

On March 9th in Chicago, Cogliano did it again, scoring the winner at 3:01 as Edmonton won 6-5.

On March 11th in Edmonton, the Oilers had a 3-0 lead over St. Louis, but the Blues scored three straight goals to send it to OT. Cogliano scored the winner with five seconds remaining to set the NHL record. Oilers won 4-3.

That was an incredible five-day stretch for Cogliano. What makes that record even more amazing is those were the only three OT goals of Cogliano’s career. He played 1294 games but never scored another OT winner in his other 1291 games.

Roslovic now has five OT goals in his career.

His first OT goal occurred April 9th in Detroit, and it was his second career hat trick.

He had another On March 21st, 2023, in Washington and his third came in Minnesota on October 21st, 2023. His first three came as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and tonight he has a chance to tie the NHL record against his former team, in his hometown. It would be quite the story if it happens.

The Oilers longest active road losing streak against any NHL franchise is four games against the Blue Jackets. Edmonton is also 0-3-1 v. Toronto, but they did manage one point in those four games.

April 24th, 2022: Oilers lost 5-2. They led 2-1 going into the third period, but the Blue Jackets scored four, including an empty netter to win. Roslovic had the third goal of the period.

February 25th, 2023: Oilers lose 6-5. Columbus led 1-0 after the first, then scored three goals in the first 5:56 of the second to lead 4-0. But the Oilers rebounded with four goals of their own in a span of 8:02 to tie the game heading into the third period. Roslovic scored two goals in the third and the Blue Jackets won 6-5.

March 7th, 2024: Oilers lose 4-2. Columbus built a 3-0 lead in the first 15:21. Zach Hyman scored in the second period, then Corey Perry made it 3-2 with eight minutes remaining, but Roslovic put the game away with an empty netter.

Roslovic played three home games as a member of the Blue Jackets against the Oilers and scored in every game. He then signed with Carolina in the summer of 2024. But his absence in Columbus didn’t stop the Oilers losing streak in Ohio.

October 28th, 2024: Oilers lose 6-1. McDavid was injured on his first shift and only played 37 seconds. Columbus jumped out to a big lead with three goals in the first 14:32 and then added a goal in the second period and two in the third. Mattias Ekholm ruined Elvis Merzlikins shutout when he scored a PP goal with 27 seconds remaining.

Slows starts have crushed the Oilers their last three games as they trailed 4-0, 3-0 and 6-0 at various points in the game. Having the red-hot Roslovic on their side might be the difference tonight. Roslovic made his debut with the Oilers on October 14th, and he had one assist in his first seven games with the Oilers. He was playing catchup after remaining unsigned during preseason and the regular season, but once he got back up to speed, he’s one of the Oilers most consistent players

Roslovic has 5-5-10 in his last nine games. He has as many game-winning goals (2) as the rest of the Oilers lineup over those nine games. He’s scoring key goals, and he’s looked very comfortable on the first unit power play as well as playing right wing with Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers need his offensive production tonight in Columbus, and while a goal in extra time would be great, I’m sure they’d prefer one earlier in the game as slow starts have been the main cause for their struggles in Columbus.

Roslovic is playing and producing like the top six forward the Oilers needed when the season began. After Zach Hyman, the Oilers were in desperate need of a top six winger who could produce. Hyman, who could return tonight, should play with Connor McDavid, while Roslovic and Draisaitl have shown good chemistry. Toss in Matt Savoie, who has played well, despite some bad luck finishing, and Edmonton might start to get some much-needed offensive production from McDavid and Draisaitl’s wingers.

— Roslovic is the third player this season to score consecutive OT winners joining Adrian Kempe (LAK) and Cole Caufield (MTL). While last season, Nazem Kadri (CGY), Dylan Guenther (UTA) and Nick Suzuki (MTL) also scored consecutive OT winners, but no player in the past 17 years has been able to match Cogliano’s heroics.

— Both teams will be playing their third game in four nights. They met Monday in Edmonton, then the Blue Jackets won in a shootout Tuesday while the Oilers won in OT in Philadelphia last night. Fatigue should be relatively even for both teams. It is interesting to note that Jet Greaves will start again tonight. He started in Edmonton and Seattle, and head coach Dean Evason said their other goalie, Elvis Merzlikins, is healthy. The two goalies split the first 14 games equally, but suddenly Greaves will play three in a row.

— Zach Hyman won’t play tonight, but he is expected to make his season debut Saturday in Carolina. When he is activated from LTIR, the Oilers will need to make a few moves.

— Currently the Oilers have 13 forwards, eight D-men and two goalies on the roster. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is on IR, and counts against the cap, while Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen are on LTIR and don’t count. When Hyman is activated, and assuming no player is injured long-term tonight, the Oilers would have a cap hit of $97,691,344. They would be $2,191,344 over the cap, and to activate Hyman, they will need to clear up that much cap space.

— I don’t see any player making more than $2.1m they will send down, so it will be two players. I’d send Isaac Howard down, because when Hyman returns, he should play with McDavid and Savoie and that would slide Andrew Mangiapane to the third line in Howard’s spot. I don’t want Howard on the fourth line. It makes more sense to have him play big minutes in the AHL, plus he isn’t suited to play a fourth line role. Mattias Janmark and Curtis Lazar fit that mold more, plus when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins returns, another top nine forward will shuffle down to the fourth line. Howard has been able to learn a lot in his first stint in the NHL, but he’s only averaging 9:30/game and with Hyman coming back, I don’t see how he gets more minutes. He goes down, and I suspect Troy Stecher goes on waivers.

— I’ve liked Matt Savoie’s game all season. He is averaging 13:22/game and last night was the seventh time he’s played over 14 minutes. It was the first game with 14+ minutes where he registered a point. It was his fifth game with 20+ shifts in a game and first one where he produced points. I disagree with those claiming Savoie got two points because he played more. I think he has played well and just wasn’t getting rewarded by playing “the right way.” He wasn’t getting any bounces, but he’s been around the puck all year. I feel his game has been trending upwards most nights. It was great to see him get rewarded with two assists, but I feel he’s played a fairly consistent game all season, and the points weren’t solely due to more minutes. He had 21 shifts against Columbus on Monday and had a great chance but didn’t finish. Hopefully the two points is a sign his hard work is paying off. If Knoblauch keeps Mangiapane with McDavid and Hyman instead of Savoie, that would be a mistake. Savoie has been more consistent, and he’s generated more than Mangiapane.

Kris Knoblauch often doesn’t have players sit out both games of BTB. Stecher will be the exception as he is the 8th D-man, but Alec Regula and David Tomášek will slot in tonight. I don’t know for sure if Tomášek will play on the third or fourth line, but I know that Isaac Howard was skating this morning with Stecher, Emberson, Hyman and Skinner, which usually means he is out tonight.

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Boone Jenner was injured in Seattle and will head coach Dean Evason said, “it won’t be short term.” Not good news for Jenner and the Blue Jackets. Jake Christiansen didn’t play the entire second half of their game in Seattle and only logged 7:14 of TOI. Zach Werenski (31:13) and Ivan Provorov (28:10) played significant minutes as Evason really wanted a win. Look for that pairing to see a lot of McDavid’s line tonight.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: The avoid a five-game losing streak in Columbus and pick up a 4-2 victory.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid picks up two points as he continues to feast on Columbus. He has 36 points in 19 career games.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Trent Frederic produces his first assist of the season.