After a disappointing finish to Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers, the Edmonton Oilers were looking to get back in the win column against the Boston Bruins, a club that’s been winning a lot since making a coaching change a few weeks back. And while it wasn’t the prettiest effort we’ll ever see, the Oilers still found a way to grind out a 3-2 OT win despite a slow start putting them at an early disadvantage. They don’t all have to be Picassos as long as you’re locking in two points at the end of the night.

I don’t care if I have to write about Leon Draisaitl being fantastic every day until people around the NHL start taking notice of this ridiculous heater he’s on, but I volunteer as tribute to handle the job. From my side of the TV screen, this is the best he’s ever played, and that’s no small feat, considering he’s already got a Hart Trophy under his belt. But over his last seven games, our handsome warlord has produced a whopping 18 points (6G, 12A), and there hasn’t been much that anyone could do about it. The guy is unstoppable.

If anything, the way he’s playing should put Leon Draisaitl’s name as the front-runner for the 2024-25 edition of the Hart Trophy — he’s been that good. As much as I respect the names around Draisaitl on the NHL leaderboard, our handsome hero is getting things done consistently and has been a significant reason the team has turned itself around after a slow start. Call me biased all you want, but convincing me that No. 29 shouldn’t be in the running would be impossible. Not only has he been producing all season long, but most of the time, he’s doing so alongside Vasily Podkolzin and, more recently, Kasperi Kapanen.

I would have called you crazy if you had told me those two players would be Draisaitl’s linemates back in the summer when Jeff Jackson signed Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson, but that’s where we’re at right now, and our sexy German hero is undoubtedly making the most of it. Yeah, he got some time with Connor McDavid again on Thursday, but for the most part, he’s driving his own line and doing it well. And to think, all that without even mentioning that he hit 900 career points. An absolute unit.

I was excited when I saw on Thursday morning that Viktor Arvidsson would be back in the lineup after missing the last 15 games with a mysterious lower-body injury. In Thursday’s GDB, Gregor wrote that his source says it might have been a hip thing, and if that’s the case, I was curious to see how mobile he’d be after not playing in a month. Kris Knoblauch had Arvidsson starting on the third line, likely to ease him into game action, but he also got a handful of shifts alongside Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin early on.

Yet, despite my excitement to see him back on the ice, Arvidsson had a pretty quiet return to the lineup. In 11:56 of TOI, he finished with two shots on a goal, one blocked shot, and one giveaway in the 15 shifts he was given. The most notable moment of his night, though, was when he got demolished in the corner and looked rough as he pulled himself back together. Maybe it’s just me, but he didn’t look all that comfortable whenever he was on the ice, and I hope the massive hit he took didn’t set him back in his recovery. If anything, I doubt he was playing at 100% when the night began, and getting run the way he didn’t mustn’t have helped.

Would it be too bold of me to suggest that the opening 20 minutes of last night’s game may have been the worst start they’ve had all season? Not only did the Oilers allow two goals that were questionable for varying reasons, but they could hardly muster a pushback attempt greater than a fluttering wrist shot from distance. It was ugly. Honestly, it was one of those periods where the only highlight from an Oilers perspective was that it was over, and I’d be lying to you if I said that I expected the result we got after the way the boys started.

I know it may seem strange for me to nitpick the Oilers’ start when they won the hockey game, but that disastrous third almost sunk the ship before the boys even had their legs moving. Sure, it happens sometimes, but I hoped they would have been more dialled in after they let Monday’s game slip away late. Even though giving 100% for less than 60 minutes may work against the shittier teams in the NHL, that’s not the case against those with higher aspirations like the Bruins. I love that the boys were able to come up with the comeback win this time, but being forced to grind out three straight goals just to make that happen isn’t a strategy that I would recommend.

1. Zach Hyman is back, baby. That slow start to the season was nothing more than a diversion tactic that all you suckers fell for. He wasn’t snake bitten, he was playing rope-a-dope on the league, and our man executed the plan perfectly. Since coming back from injury on December 5th against the Blue Jackets, ZMH has eight goals in his last seven games. Remember when he didn’t get picked for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off? Hilarious.

2. Just when I was losing hope that the Oilers would drop a second straight game, Connor McDavid did Connor McDavid things and got the game tied up on another highlight reel play. By no means was it the prettiest goal he’ll ever score, but it was pretty damned beautiful to me.

3. There are few things I love more than watching Mattias Ekholm score goals, and that made his OT winner all the more special. That dude has been such a gift since coming over from Nashville, and I still pinch myself sometimes when I think about how Ken Holland pulled that deal off for mostly spare parts.

4. I know there will be folks who disagree with me, but I’m giving plenty of love to Stuart Skinner for the way he rebounded after the team dropped two quick goals to start the game. Skinner locked things down entirely after Mark Kastelic’s goal at the 17:35 mark of the first period, and it was because of that foundation that the Oilers were able to overcome the two-goal deficit. There’s no way they would have won had the Bruins made it a 3-0 or 3-1 game, and Skinner deserves a lot of credit for keeping them to two. Skinner ended up with 24 saves and a .923 save percentage when the final buzzer sounded, and I very much appreciate the way he battled through what could have been a card folding night in different circumstances.

5. Jeff Skinner only played 8:06 last night, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s going to get shipped out of town when the trade deadline rolls around. Clearly, Kris Knoblauch isn’t happy about something in his game, but playing him on the fourth line less than halfway through the season sure throws a wrench in whatever Jeff Jackson’s plan must have been when he signed him. Anybody else miss Dylan Holloway right about now?

6. How about a first-shot goal against from Elias Lindholm just because it’s been a while?

7. Looking at the special teams, the Oilers were perfect on the PK again, killing off both shorthanded situations they faced. I’ve said it before, but the turnaround they’ve had when down a man has been a big driver of this recent success. On the power play,  however, the Oilers couldn’t get much done on either of their two attempts with the man advantage. Still a work a progress.

8. I regretfully inform you that the Oilers won only 46.4% of the faceoffs. I know, I’m disappointed too.

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