Tonight is officially listed as a home game for Edmonton, but it feels like part of an eight-game road trip. The Oilers played the Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Red Wings, and Senators on the road, and they host the Canadiens tonight before playing in Seattle and Vancouver this coming Saturday and Sunday. It’s an odd one-game homestand, bookended by seven road games.

The good news for the Oilers is that they flew home from the nation’s capital after a victory, which made the flight much more enjoyable. They got to reconnect with family and sleep in their own beds for two nights, so that combined with a win should have them feeling better than they did after a sluggish first four games on the road.

Connor McDavid, Jake Walman, and Isaac Howard scored their first goals of the season, and in Howard’s case, the first of his career, in the victory over Ottawa. They now have 10 skaters with at least one goal this season. The offense is still not firing on all cylinders. They mustered only 12 shots on goal in the first 40 minutes in Ottawa but led 2-0. Their best offensive game occurred 12 days ago on home ice against Vancouver. They peppered the Canucks, and Thatcher Demko was the only reason the game was close. They only scored three goals (one into an empty net), but they generated the most scoring chances in any game all season.

They are hoping a return home, even though it is only for one game, will inject some life into their offence. The offense is still the main area that needs to improve. Defensively, I’ve liked the Oilers’ play, and Stuart Skinner has been solid for 99% of his minutes. The Oilers have only allowed 16 goals against (with a goalie in net) in their seven games. They’ve also allowed three empty net goals, but they are tied with Pittsburgh for the fifth-lowest GAA with a goalie in the net. The Rangers lead at 1.37, followed by Washington (1.71), Colorado (1.85), Utah (2.14), and Edmonton and Pittsburgh (2.28).

Defensively, the Oilers have been quite strong overall. They’ve been getting points due to their defensive play this season.

The offence needs to start carrying its weight.

— Matt Savoie earned a promotion as his game got stronger throughout the road trip. Savoie will play right wing with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl tonight. “He is playing really well,” said McDavid about his new linemate. “He’s got a great engine on him. He skates really well, and with a little bit of luck, he scores one or two last game and he’s off and running. He’s dug in defensively, he’s doing a great job on the penalty kill, and the offensive side will come. He has all the tools. He handles the puck well, shoots it well, and he can really skate.”

— McDavid is a bit perplexed by the lack of offense, especially considering the team is playing quite well defensively. I asked him what he’s seeing that is lacking offensively right now. “That is a good question. The whole thing just seems a little bit off right now. I thought we created a lot in the first two games, but it went dry on the road. We need to get it back, and tonight presents a good opportunity,” said McDavid.

— The Oilers have yet to score three 5×5 goals in a game. They’ve scored two twice (DET and NJD) and only one in each of their other five games. For comparison’s sake, last season the Oilers had 29 games where they scored 3+ goals 5×5, 22 times they scored two. So, they scored 2+ goals at 5×5 in 62.1% of their games. They scored 3+ goals in 35.3% of their games, but sit at 0% thus far, and they’ve scored 2+ goals in 28.5% of their games. Their 5×5 offence continues to be the main issue. They must find ways to generate more scoring, whether it is off the rush, off the cycle, deflections, or net front scoring. Every offensive element of their game 5×5 is struggling right now.

— Howard was the 421st Oiler to score a goal in franchise history. Can you name the forward who played the most games as an Oiler, but only scored one goal? *Answer below.*

— I’m always intrigued by how some use GF%. I was sent a tweet outlining how terrible of a start Darnell Nurse has had because of his GF% ranking. Nurse is at 0% as he’s been on the ice for 0 goals for and 3 goals against. No question it isn’t a good look when you haven’t been on the ice for one goal for 5×5 through seven games. He’s struggled moving the puck. If the point is he has to play better, I agree, but he’s far from the only one. Mattias Ekholm’s GF-GA is 2-5, and Evan Bouchard is 2-4. Nurse and Ekholm are -3 at 5x,5, and Bouchard is -2. Nurse has a 0GF%, while Ekholm is at 28.5% and Bouchard is at 33.3%. The % looks way better for the latter two, but suggesting it means they’ve played much better is misleading for me. None of those three has played up to their expectations. Nurse has defended well, but his puck movement hasn’t been close to good enough. Ekholm and Bouchard haven’t defended as well and have been on the ice for more goals against despite playing fewer minutes 5×5 than Nurse.

— All three can play better in different aspects of their game. Bouchard doesn’t have a point 5×5 despite playing the majority of his minutes with McDavid and/or Draisaitl. Ekholm has one assist. Their 5×5 GA/60 ranks are 2.46 for Ekholm, 1.93 for Bouchard, and 1.38 for Nurse, so yes Nurse has a worse GF%, but better GA numbers. What is interesting is that Nurse and Ekholm have been on the ice for two goals against together in only 7:30 of playing time. The first one was on a bad Nurse turnover when he forced a pass up the boards, the Devils knocked it down and slid it to Jack Hughes, and he was all alone from the top of the circle.  The second was the Emmitt Finnie goal in Detroit, where Ekholm was playing the right side, and Finnie banged home a rebound from his side of the ice.

If there is one aspect of the Oilers’ blueline usage I don’t love is when they play Ekholm on the right side with Nurse, or just on the right side at any point. Ekholm is better on LD. I still think of the Panthers’ opening goal in Game 5 of the Cup Final. Why did the coaches have Ekholm on RD off the faceoff at centre ice? He’s more used to turning the other way, and Marchand beat him when he had to turn to his left while playing RD.

— It is a small sample size, but I don’t think it benefits Ekholm or Nurse when they play together. I’d avoid it as much as I could. Nurse has the lowest GA/60 of his career thus far at 1.38. His best full season was 2.17 (2018) and 2.35 (last year). Nurse, like most of the skaters, is off to a very slow start offensively.

— I think any Oiler fan who tries to pinpoint one individual as the reason for their sluggish start is missing the point. The TEAM hasn’t played very well. The entire offence has struggled, and pretty much every skater has played a role in that. The D haven’t moved the puck as well as they can, while forwards have missed too many passes (giving and receiving), haven’t generated enough scoring chances off the rush, off the cycle, or around the net. Debating which Oiler skater has played the best this season is like saying who has the most stubble at a bald man’s convention. There is no real winner.

Kris Knoblauch will stick with the same lineup that won in Ottawa, but he switched up two lines as Savoie moves to the top line, while Podkolzin moves to the third line. Savoie has earned the promotion.

I’m a bit surprised Calvin Pickard is starting tonight instead of Stuart Skinner. I’d have played Skinner tonight and Sunday in Vancouver, and then have Pickard start Saturday in Seattle. Skinner is playing well, and he seems to play better when he gets in a groove. Play three, rest one, and play again. It might not matter, especially if the Oilers’ offence wakes up, but I was surprised to see Pickard in the starter’s net tonight.

The Canadiens won 2-1 in OT in Calgary last night. Calgary fired 37 shots on goal, and managed 30 shots on goal for only the second time this season. Jakub Dobes was solid in goal, and I wonder if the Habs may have taken the Flames for granted, as Montreal had allowed 22 shots or fewer in four of their previous five games before last night. The Canadiens will be on high alert tonight against the Oilers, even though the Oilers’ offence was rather pedestrian on the road trip, scoring only 12 goals in five games.

Montembeault is one of 33 goalies who’ve played four games this season, and he ranks 32nd in Sv% at .857 and 28th in GAA at 3.28.

Local boy, Kirby Dach, returns to the lineup tonight after missing three games due to an injury. He’ll be extra amped up getting to play in front of family and friends.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Edmonton takes advantage of Montreal playing on back-to-back nights and squeaks out a 4-2 victory, with an empty net goal.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Draisaitl scores a goal. It is his 15th goal in 29 career games v. Montreal.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid scores a goal in consecutive games after going goalless in his first six games. Montreal becomes the 19th franchise, and McDavid has scored at least 10 goals against.