Last night, Christmas came early for Connor Ingram. It was his first NHL start in 272 days, the 100th NHL start of his career and first as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. It was a big moment for him and the team.

Ingram left the Utah Mammoth last February and entered the NHL/NHLPA assistance program. He entered due to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. OCD is a mental health condition characterized by uncontrollable, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviours (compulsions). If you want to learn more about Ingram’s journey, read this article by Mark Spector. Last night was about Ingram’s final step in the process, getting back to the NHL.

“You don’t get many more chances at this. This isn’t something that you come back from very often,” Ingram said in November. “So, I kind of accepted that that could be the end, hoping it’s not. When I took a chance to take care of myself, that was the part of it you had to accept.”

Last February, Ingram chose his well-being over the NHL, a decision worthy of applause, because a job, regardless of how glamorous and fun, will not make us happy. It is a wonderful reminder, but last night Ingram was able to experience both. He put in the work on himself, and after a few months in the American League, with less-than-stellar stats, Ingram returned to the NHL and picked up a 4-3 victory over Vegas.

“There was a lot of days I didn’t think it would ever happen again,” said Ingram post-game. “It’s just the truth of it in this world. There are 64 spots in the world to do this, so you don’t take it for granted. Any day that you’re up here, it’s a huge honour.”

Ingram was at his best when it mattered most, in the third period, when the drain of six games in nine days, in six different cities, caught up to his teammates. Vegas outshot the Oilers 12-3 in the third and pulled within one goal with 14:11 remaining, but Ingram didn’t allow the tying goal. He was steady and secured the win. He did his job and earned one of the Oilers’ internal players of the game.

Ingram stopped 26 of 29 shots to earn the victory and improve the Oilers record to 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Ingram also outlined why he feels the NHL might be better suited for his style of play than the AHL.

“I think it’s easier (playing in the NHL). What you think should happen does happen,” said Ingram. “I rely heavily on reading the game. I’ve never been a guy who was fast enough or quick enough to react, so I had to be one step ahead. In this league it’s just easier to do that. Where you think the puck is going to go, 90 per cent of the time it does. But it’s also a huge step. It’s a lot faster than what I’ve been used to for the last couple of months.”

It is only one game, but you can’t underestimate the importance of the win, both for Ingram and the Oilers. It was the first time this season the Oilers won the second half of back-to-back games. They were playing their sixth game in nine nights and facing a divisional rival. It might have only been game #37 on the Oilers’ schedule, but it was a huge two points and for Ingram it was the reward after choosing to take care of himself first.

Connor McDavid was flying, again. He produced his eighth multi-point game and extended his point streak to 10 games. He has 12 goals and 26 points during this current streak and for the first time this season he sits atop the NHL’s scoring leaders with 62 points. He’s one ahead of Nathan MacKinnon, although MacKinnon does have two games in hand. He’s gained nine points on MacKinnon in the last 10 games and has put himself back in the conversation to win his sixth Art Ross trophy, which would tie him with Mario Lemieux for second most.

The biggest change for McDavid recently is he’s increased his shot totals and his goal totals.

He scored 12 goals in his first 27 games on 75 shots (2.77/game).

He has 12 goals in his last 10 games on 47 shots (4.70/game).

In 2023 when he scored 64 goals, he averaged 4.29 shots/GP.

After a slow start by his standards, McDavid is suddenly on pace for 53 goals and 137 points. Both would be the second-highest totals of his career. McDavid isn’t just producing points — he looks like a threat almost every shift as he’s attacking with speed over and over. The gap between him and the rest of the league is growing significantly when you look at speed bursts.

He has 100 more bursts of 20-22 mph than all but six players in the entire NHL. He has 57 more than Nathan MacKinnon, who is an elite skater. Then look at his 22+ mph bursts. He has 68 — the next closest is Josh Anderson with 24 and Owen Tippett with 23. MacKinnon is seventh with 20. McDavid has 44 more bursts of 22+ mph than ever player in the league. It’s wild.

Through the first 10 games of the season McDavid had 58 bursts of 20-22 mph, while MacKinnon had 56. Since then, McDavid has 174 to MacKinnon’s 119. Any suggestion McDavid has slowed down is beyond preposterous. He’s picking up speed as the season goes along. He averaged 5.8 bursts of 20-22 mph in the first 10 games, and he’s averaged 6.6 bursts over the past 27 games. McDavid is feeling it right now and he’s a main reason the Oilers are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and are suddenly two points behind Anaheim for first in the Pacific Division. Edmonton is tied with Vegas for second, although Vegas has three games in hand. But the Oilers are officially back in the race for first in the Pacific Division.

— This is McDavid’s 18th point streak of at least 10 games. His 26 points is the eighth most among of any of 10+ point streaks and his 12 goals is tied for third most, and he’s only played 10 games.

He is on one of the most productive heaters of his career.

His 26 points in any 10-game stretch (regardless of if he had points in every game) is the best he’s had since the end of the 2021 season. That year, McDavid finished with 36 points in his final 14 games. He had 12 multi-point games. He has four points (3x), three points (5x), two points (4x), one point (1x) and zero points (1x). During this run he produced a maximum of 29 points in 10 games, and the lowest total was 27.

He’s at 26 points right now. Could he pick up 10 points in his next four games? They host Calgary tomorrow, are in Calgary on Saturday the 27th, in Winnipeg on the 29th and then home to Boston on New Year’s Eve.

— McDavid ranks second all time in most 10-game point streaks with 18. Here’s the list of players who had at least 10. *Active player in bold.*

31: Wayne Gretzky

18: McDavid

15: Guy Lafleur

14: Mario Lemieux

13: Marcel Dionne

12: Mike Bossy, Sidney Crosby, Phil Esposito, Brett Hull, Mark Messier, Denis Savard, Peter Stastny and Steve Yzerman.

11: Paul Coffey, Leon Draisaitl, Jaromir Jagr, Nikita Kucherov and Nathan MacKinnon.

10: Bernie Federko, Joe Sakic, Pierre Turgeon and Bryan Trottier.

Now is a good reminder to relish watching McDavid. Players like him don’t come along often.

— Leon Draisaitl doesn’t have a goal in eight games, his longest goal drought since 2021. However, he does have 15 points in those eight games, and he has 21 points in his last 10 games. Most players would die to be in a goal-scoring “slump” and still produce 15 points. Draisaitl has had similar droughts in the past. Here’s the most games he’s gone without a goal season-by-season, and his goal total in parentheses.

2016: 14 (19 goals)

2017: Nine (29)

2018: Eight (25)

2019: Seven (50)

2020: Six (43)

2021: Eight (31 in 56 GP)

2022: Four (55)

2023: Seven (51)

2024: Seven (42)

2025: Four (52)

He’s had streaks of seven games and still scored 50 goals. He’s had a streak like this most years. I wouldn’t put much stock into it, as this has happened to him in December multiple times. He’ll be fine. He’s on pace for 115 points, which would be the second-highest total of his career.

— Sometimes stats don’t tell the entire story. I see many in Oilersnation are excited about the play of Spencer Stastney. He skates very well, battles hard and has a good stick. His first six games are a great example of why statistics don’t always tell the full story for defenseman. In six games, Stastney has logged 88 minutes 5×5. When on the ice he’s been outshot 44-25 while he’s even in goals for/against at 1-1. Usually a D-man skating with a 36SF% wouldn’t be applauded by Oilers fans, but Stastney has shown an ability to make a key defensive play at the right time to thwart a good scoring chance.

He and Darnell Nurse, along with Mattias Janmark and Leon Draisaitl, were on the ice for the final 1:50 last night v. Vegas. Nurse and Janmark made great defensive plays deflecting cross-seam passes out of harm’s way, while Stastney and Nurse each had a key blocked shot. Vegas had the puck in the zone for most of the final 90 seconds, but the Oilers didn’t allow one shot on goal in that time. It was an excellent defensive sequence, and it was noticeable how Mark Stuart had Nurse and Stastney out together with 1:50 remaining, and even after Vegas called a timeout with 48 seconds remaining, Stuart put them back out again. He clearly was happy with how they were playing. Stastney getting on the for the final two minutes protecting a lead will be a huge boost of confidence for him, and it shows how Stuart, and Kris Knoblauch regard him.

We raised an amazing $25,400 on Friday between our Pyramid of Giving and the Oilers suite. Thank you very much.

We have nine packages to bid on. The top nine bids will end up getting a package, but the highest bidder gets to pick first, and then second highest and so on.

You can bid via text between 2-6 p.m. on Sports 1440 by texting 833.401.1440 (can call the same number) and include your name and donation amount. All money raised will support The Christmas Bureau and Santas Anonymous.