That may have been the Edmonton Oilers’ best game since the 4 Nations Face-Off break ended.
On Friday evening, the Oilers went to Long Island to face the New York Islanders on the second of a back-to-back. They picked up their first win on this road trip, defeating the Islanders 2-1 in overtime. Let’s take a look at what happened in the game.
Nothing is better than an angry Leon Draisaitl. Midway through the second period, Draisaitl turned back time and took a slap shot off the rush, beating Ilya Sorokin for his league-leading 48th goal of the season, and his 99th point on the season.
Odd-man rushes have been killing the Oilers in this poor stretch of games and that was no different on Friday evening. Just over 80 seconds into the third period, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, covering the point for Darnell Nurse, pinched and had the puck poked by him. Bo Horvat beat Calvin Pickard clean to tie the game.
Like their game in November, Draisaitl scored the overtime winner. Pickard made a heads-up play to pick off an Islander pass,  giving it to Connor McDavid who sprung Draisaitl for the breakaway. He made no mistake in burying his 49th of the season, and his 100th point on the campaign. It marks his fourth straight 100-point season and the sixth of his career. Now one goal away from reaching the 50-goal plateau for the fourth time in his career, him hitting the 100-point mark makes him the second player this season to do so, following Nathan MacKinnon.

Takeaways…

Another game means new lines for the Oilers. This time, the first line was made up of Adam Henrique, Connor McDavid, and Zach Hyman. Overall, they look pretty solid. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins moved to the third-line centre, playing alongside Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson and that line also had a good showing. 
On the second line, Leon Draisaitl centred Corey Perry and Connor Brown. When Trent Frederic returns, I’m all for a Frederic-Draisaitl-Perry line. Overall, their top three lines looked good when using the eye test and these lines should be used again on Sunday as they outplayed the Islanders heavily on Friday.
Speaking of Draisaitl, the first half of the game was rough, taking two penalties and getting stoned by Ilya Sorokin. Thankfully, his point streak extended to 17 games with his second-period goal. In that stretch, he has 14 goals and 26 points. Since the start of 2025, Draisaitl has 22 goals and 44 points in 29 games.
This game was a goaltender’s battle. Islanders’ netminder Ilya Sorokin saved 33 of 35 shots for a .943 save percentage. Calvin Pickard had a good game as well, saving 24 of 25 shots for a .960 save percentage. Moreover, Pickard picked up the primary assist, intercepting a pass in overtime and getting an assist on Draisaitl’s breakaway goal.
Up next, the Oilers finish their road trip against the New York Rangers on Sunday at 5:00 PM MT. With the win, they move back into second place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings who have two games in hand. They just need to string some wins together here.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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