After Connor McDavid was ruled out of the third period of Thursday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, only to be ruled out of Saturday night’s affair with the Seattle Kraken, it was full-blown DEFCON 1.
With the Oilers playoff spot all but locked up, there was more than a fair amount of concern in Alberta’s capital, but by the time the clock hit zero, Edmonton was atop the Kraken 5-4 in thanks to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ fourth career hat-trick.
“Ryan’s been playing really well, especially since we moved him to centre,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch after the game. “It’s easier for him. The transition, he’s got the puck more, he’s moving, he’s a great disher, and the two guys he’s playing with are playing really well, too, so those three have been having some great chemistry.
“And once you get some points and get some goals, you feel a lot better about your game. He made some nice plays on the power play and the last one, the way he pulled the puck off that wall under pressure and fired it, that’s not just an easy, gimme empty net goal.”
And as the dust settled on the game with Oilers general manager Stan Bowman joining Sportsnet’s After Hours program, he offered an update on the Dynamic Duo that can let those in the market exhale even more: “Thankfully they’re not serious injuries,” and that “it’s not going to be a long time” before they’re back in the lineup.”
Hakuna Matata, Oilers fans.
While Nugent-Hopkins tickled twine at even-strength, on the power play and short-handed, he wasn’t the only player who was important in the victory. Adam Henrique had opened the scoring 14 and a half minutes in to the game, firing home a shot on the power play. Jeff Skinner, meanwhile, stayed hot, scoring his 14th goal of the season partway through the second, getting lost in a crowd and showing off his quick release.
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows — the Kraken did score four that counted and one that didn’t — but it was important to see three different lines scoring for the Oilers Saturday night, as depth pieces stepped up.
“They get excited for the opportunity, but I think the most important thing that really elevates their game, they’re just engaged more,” said Knoblauch. “They know their shifts coming up, they know they’re going to be playing regularly rather than defaulting to your two best players. Just much easier to stay in the game, you feel better about yourself and you can contribute. You look at our offensive chances tonight, I thought our guys did a lot of good things. Had a lot of opportunities in the third period to put that game away and didn’t capitalize but it was nice to see guys creating those chances.”
Early results are there from the line of Nugent-Hopkins, Arvidsson and Podkolzin, as over the last four games, they’ve helped tilt the ice in the Oilers’ favour, outscoring the opposition 3-1 in nearly 36 five-on-five minutes, controlling 57.1 percent of the shot attempt share and 60.6 percent of the scoring chance share.
The Oilers are going to need more of that from these three, who suddenly look like they could be an excellent third line. You’ve got your playmaker up the middle, a shooter on his right flank in Arvidsson, and a two-way power forward type in Podkolzin.
Now, let’s see if they can keep this play up.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.
