Just as many expected. The Edmonton Oilers are winning early on this season on the strength of good defensive play and sound goaltending.

Through the first week of the season, the Oilers lead the NHL with a 1.33 GAA (goals against average), while ranking 25th in goals per game at 2.67.

The Oilers have three 5×5 goals, the fewest in the league, but they’ve allowed the third fewest (also three), and so far, their defensive play has carried the offence. Kasperi Kapanen leads the Oilers with two 5×5 points. The third line of Kapanen, Vasily Podkozlin, with either Noah Philp or Trent Frederic at centre, has scored two of the team’s three 5×5 goals. That line, and specifically Kapanen, have been their most consistent line 5×5.

The great news for the Oilers is they haven’t needed their superstars to carry them, which illustrates how good the Oilers actually are. I was perplexed by how many pre-season prognostications from fans and pundits questioned the depth of the Oilers. Their core remains the same, and they’ve added more speed to the lineup. Not to mention head coach Kris Knoblauch has improved their defensive play significantly since he was hired in November of 2023.

The Oilers can defend, and now they just need their offence to wake up. They’ve outshot teams 68-47 at 5×5 and have the second-best shots for percentage in the NHL at 59.1 percent, but like last season, they are struggling to finish. Their net front offence is last in the NHL through three games. They miss Zach Hyman’s presence around the net, but even when he returns, the Oilers need more players around the net. That’s where the majority of goals are scored. The Oilers have to score a goal with anyone in front of the net. Look at their goals thus far.

Their first goal came on a nifty three-way passing play on the power play. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finished it off nicely.

Andrew Mangiapane ripped a wrister top-shelf from the top of the circle and beat Dustin Wolf over the glove.

Leon Draisaitl scored on the power play on a great no-look-behind-the-back pass from David Tomášek.

Noah Philp scored off the rush against Thatcher Demko.

Mangipane picked off a pass and waited patiently before beating Demko.

Trent Frederic scored his first as an Oilers on a breakaway against Igor Shesterkin.

They’ve also scored two empty net goals.

The good news is the Oilers have shown they have the skill to make great plays, and finish chances off the rush. But eventually they will need to score some gritty/ugly/deflection goals as well. It hasn’t been an issue yet, because of how well they’ve played defensively, or in the case of Tuesday’s game, how well their goaltender played. Good teams find different ways to win, and the fact their superstars haven’t taken over a game, and they’ve still picked up five of six points is a positive. However, the lack of 5×5 scoring and ranking 31st in SH% is a concern, considering that was an issue last year as well.

Their opponent tonight, the New York Islanders, could be the perfect cure for their offensive woes. The Islanders rank 30th in GAA at 4.33 and have allowed 13 goals in three games. I recognize the Oilers will start to score more, because they have enough skill to do it, but considering how many shots and scoring chances they create, they should have scored more than they did last year, and it is only three games, but the trend of lacking a net-front offence has continued.

One of the main differences in the Stanley Cup Final, was Florida’s net-front game compared to Edmonton. I don’t think it is incorrect to point out, it is an area of their offensive game they can improve.

— Stuart Skinner is looking for his 100th career win as an Oiler tonight. His next win will make him the third quickest goalie to 100 wins in franchise history trailing Grant Fuhr (168 starts) and Andy Moog (149 starts). Tonight is Skinner’s 171st NHL start. If you go by games played, Moog did it in his 168th game, Fuhr in his 174th game and Skinner in his 177th, if he wins tonight.

— Skinner has a record of 2-1 v. the Islanders with a .908Sv% and 2.34 GAA. He has a win against every NHL team, except New Jersey. He’s 0-3 against the Devils, and I wonder if that plays into Kris Knoblauch’s decision on which game his goalie starts this upcoming weekend. Calvin Pickard is 4-1 v. the Devils in his career. The Oilers play in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon and in Detroit on Sunday.

— Odd fact. As of right now Skinner and Pickard have both made 176 NHL appearances. Pickard’s first game came in 2013/14, while Skinner debuted in 2020/21. Skinner has made 170 starts, while Pickard’s made 145. I always enjoy being reminded of Pickard’s perseverance. He spent three years in the AHL, then over the next three seasons he played 86 NHL games, including 50 in 2017. Over the next six seasons he played 30 NHL games and 129 in the NHL, and in the past three years he’s played 60 NHL games and four in the AHL. He kept grinding.

— The Oilers could benefit from drawing a few penalties tonight. The Oilers had no PP chances v. the Rangers. Their PP is a respectable 22.2% going 2-for-9, while the Islanders PK is very leaky at 70%.

— Brett Kulak has played 267 consecutive games since joining the Oilers on March 24th, 2022. His 267 consecutive games played is the 11th longest active streak in the NHL.  Only 64 active players have even played 100 consecutive games. The Oilers franchise record is 518 consecutive games set by Craig MacTavish between 1986 and 1993.

— Matthew Schaefer was the #1 pick this past June, ten years after Connor McDavid went #1 overall. Both played for the Erie Otters when drafted. Schaefer has had quite the introduction to the NHL. Tonight is his fourth NHL game, and he’s already faced Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin and tonight he gets to play against McDavid and Draisaitl. Not a bad opening week. Schaefer is averaging 23:18/game, and he’s produced three points (1-2-3) in three games. He’s the only D-man on the Islanders to outscore the opposition at 5×5. He’s been paired with veteran Scott Mayfield and when they are on the ice together the Islanders have outshot teams 24-17 and without them together, they’ve outshot teams 46-44.

— The Islanders are 0-3 this season, yet they’ve outshot teams 70-61 at 5×5, but they’ve been outscored 9-5. On special teams they’ve scored two power play goals and have allowed three while penalty killing. They haven’t been awful, but they’ve allowed nine goals on 61 shots 5×5. They have the second lowest 5×5 sv% at .852%.

— Ilya Sorokin is 0-3 with a .854Sv% and 4.18 GAA. He will get the night off tonight and David Rittich will start his first game as an Islander. In 10 career starts vs. the Oilers, Rittich is 5-4-1 with a .920Sv% and 2.49 GAA. The Oilers didn’t play very well, except Stuart Skinner, against the Rangers on Tuesday and I expect a better effort from the skaters tonight.