The Edmonton Oilers are 19-5-2 since November 9th. They own the best record in the NHL over that span, and they along with the Vegas Golden Knights and LA Kings are locked in a great battle for home ice advantage in the Pacific Division.

Over the past two months Edmonton is tied for the most wins, they have the best points percentage (.769), rank first in GF/GP (3.81), fourth in GA/GP at (2.46), fifth in power play percentage (29.8 percent) and first in penalty kill percentage (89.3 percent). They are rolling and tonight they will look for their 16th win in their last 20 games.

Last year the Oilers had a stretch where they won 24 of 27 games, and while it will be difficult to match that, a victory tonight would make them 16-3-1 in their last 20. Every facet of their game is working right now. Tuesday in Boston they were sound. They weren’t perfect, as they gave up two breakaways, but Stuart Skinner stopped them both en route to a 26-save shutout. The NHL lists it as a shared shut out, because the concussion spotter made Skinner leave the game for the final 5:25 of the first period after getting run over by Nikita Zadorov. Calvin Pickard came in, and although he didn’t face a shot, he played in the game, so it is considered a shared shutout. Odd rule, but Skinner was excellent last night.

The Bruins created very little all night. Brett Kulak was stellar shutting down rushes and the entire team played great. Edmonton will look to continue its strong play tonight against Pittsburgh. The Oilers are 9-5-3 v. the Penguins in the Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl era, and the outcomes represent the different stages these organizations are at.

In McDavid’s first four seasons in the NHL, the Oilers made the playoffs once, while Pittsburgh won the Cup in 2016 and 2017. In those first four seasons, the Oilers only won one of eight games v. the Penguins.

But since the 2020 season, the Oilers are 8-1 head-to-head and they’ve won the last seven meetings. They didn’t just win the games, they’ve dominated the Penguins. Dating back to December 1st, 2021, the Oilers have won by scores of 5-2, 5-1, 6-3, 7-2, 6-1, 4-0, and 4-0. They’ve outscored Pittsburgh 37-9 and outshot them 284-218. In the last six meetings, they’ve outshot the Penguins by an average of 13 shots per game. Thirteen.

McDavid and his Oilers are a legitimate Cup contender now, while Pittsburgh is just trying to contend for a wildcard spot in the latter years of Sidney Crosby’s Hall of Fame career. The Oilers are a terrible matchup for the older Penguins. They can’t match Edmonton’s speed or overall skill, and the Oilers have crushed them off the rush and with fast puck movement. The Oilers have been very good at beating the teams they should. Ignore claims that suggest they aren’t good against bad teams. They don’t win every game, no team does, but among the eight playoff teams in the West, only Vegas has more wins v. non-playoff teams.

Vegas is 19-2-1.
Edmonton 18-5.
Dallas is 17-5.
Winnipeg is 17-5-1
Colorado is 17-5-1.
Minnesota is 15-3-3.
LA is 14-4-4.
Vancouver is 12-7-7.

Should Canucks fans be concerned about their team? They’ve played the most games against non-playoff teams and have the worst record.

The Oilers’ next two games are against Pittsburgh and Chicago, before they play a stretch of six games against playoff teams. The Oilers are 7-7-3 v. playoff teams, but they are 7-4-2 since November 1st. Their sluggish October saw them go 0-3-1 against teams currently in a playoff spot.

Winnipeg is 11-7-1.
Minnesota is 11-8-1
Vegas is 9-7-2
LA is 9-6-1
Dallas is 8-8-1
Colorado is 8-11.
Edmonton 7-7-3
Vancouver is 6-5-3.

None of the playoff teams have as dominant of a record against playoff teams, as they do non-playoff teams, which is understandable, but the Oilers could really use two wins in these next two games to keep pace with Vegas, who play six of their next nine games against non-playoff teams.

— Connor McDavid has 6-11-17 in the last seven games v. the Penguins. He has 17 points, Leon Draisaitl has 11 and Zach Hyman has nine. The Penguins have scored nine goals as a team. Wild.

“It’s a game we get up for, for sure,” said McDavid. “It is exciting playing Sid and the Penguins. It’s definitely one we are excited about. For whatever reason, we play well against them and hope to continue that tonight.”

— In their first 14 meetings, McDavid has scored 27 points while Sidney Crosby has seven. McDavid is 10 years younger, and he’s dominated the head-to-head matchups.

— Edmonton won 4-0 at home earlier this year. They shut out the Penguins 4-0 in their final meeting last year and beat them 6-1 in the first meeting. Evgeni Malkin scored with 7:27 remaining to break the shutout. Edmonton has outscored the Penguins 14-1 in their last three meetings. Crazy.

— Pittsburgh is winless in its last four games. They’ve lost their last three in OT/SO. Meanwhile, the Oilers have won four in a row, and they will look to match their season-high of five consecutive victories.

— Edmonton has scored first in seven consecutive games. They’ve scored first in 11 of their last 14 games after scoring first in 11 of their first 26 games. They’ve done a great job of jumping on teams early lately. Edmonton is 16-3-3 when scoring first, while Pittsburgh is 10-6-3 when scoring first.

— Edmonton is 9-9 when allowing the first goal and Pittsburgh is 7-11-5. Of the 16 teams currently in a playoff spot, 14 of them rank 1-14th in points percentage when allowing the first goal. Boston is 16th and Columbus is 30th. Good teams are able to overcome the first goal deficit far more often. It is interesting to note how three of the top-10 teams in points percentage when scoring first are non-playoff teams (Ottawa 3rd, Montreal 5th and NY Rangers 9th). The Oilers are tied for 7th at .727 points percentage.

— The Oilers have had the lead to start the third period a league-high 25 times. New Jersey and Winnipeg are second at 21. Pittsburgh is tied for 30th leading only 11 times. Edmonton is 20-2-3 when leading after 40 minutes.

No lineup changes for the Oilers from their dominant 4-0 win in Boston two nights ago. Edmonton begins the game with a shutout streak of 127:37.

Rakell – Crosby – Rust
Bunting – Glass – Beauvillier
O’Connor – Hayes – Puljujarvi
Nieto – Lizotte – Acciari

Pettersson – Letang
Grzelcyk – Karlsson
Pickering – Joseph

Nedeljkovic

Evgeni Malkin is expected to miss his second consecutive game. The Penguins only have three players with a GF% above 50 percent at 5×5 this season. Blake Lizotte at 61.9 percent (13-8), Richard Rakell 52.05 percent (38-35) and Erik Karlsson 50.56 percent (45-44).

The Penguins have allowed the most 5×5 goals against at 108. They’ve allowed the second-most shots as well. Edmonton generates the most 5×5 shots and is eighth in goals. This should be a very good matchup for Edmonton.