The Edmonton Oilers finished a five-game-in-seven-day trek in style with back-to-back shutouts over Vancouver and St. Louis. The Oilers won 6-0 in Vancouver on Saturday and 5-0 at home last night. It was only the third time in franchise history that they posted consecutive shutouts by different goalies.

Tristan Jarry stopped all 31 shots in Vancouver while Connor Ingram didn’t allow a goal on 27 shots last night. The two previous times this happened was in 2002, when Jussi Markanen won 4-0 in Florida on December 7th, and the next night Tommy Salo defeated Atlanta 3-0. And in 2023, Stuart Skinner blanked Los Angeles 2-0 on March 30th and two days later, Jack Campbell beat Anaheim 6-0.

The Oilers are playing much better defensively, and their goalies are making timely saves. Connor Ingram has made nine starts, and eight of them were classified as quality starts. In those eight starts, he’s allowed 14 goals on 213 shots (.934 Sv%) and a 1.73 GAA. He had one off game v. Boston where he allowed six goals on 29 shots, and overall in nine games he has a .917 Sv% and 2.22 GAA.

Those are still excellent numbers, and since making his Oilers debut on December 21st, Ingram’s nine starts are tied for the eighth most among goalies. Among the 38 goalies who have made at least six starts in that time, he ranks eighth in save percentage and sixth in goals against average. Funny enough, Stuart Skinner has the lowest GAA in that time at 1.85, and he’s second in save percentage at .927. Skinner has made six starts in that time for Pittsburgh, and after a rough first game against his former team, Skinner has played well. He’s rotated evenly with Arturs Silovs, and less seems to be more for him. The Tristan Jarry for Stuart Skinner trade has worked for both teams, but because Jarry got injured, it opened the door for Ingram to be recalled, and one could argue the trade helped the Oilers more in that it gave Ingram an opportunity he might not have had.

Jarry has made five starts with the Oilers and is 4-0-1 with a .907 save percentage and 2.58 goals against average. He’s been solid, but Ingram’s play should allow Kris Knoblauch to rotate evenly between Ingram and Jarry leading up to the Olympic break. The Oilers have eight games before the break, and it would make sense to split them evenly between Ingram and Jarry. Jarry is coming off his second injury of the season, so there is no reason to play him in consecutive games, especially with how well Ingram is playing.

Zach Hyman has 31 points in 31 games since returning from his wrist injury. The first 11 games were a bit slow in the goal scoring department, as he needed to improve his mobility, but the past 20 games he’s been excellent. Hyman has 17 goals and 25 points in his last 20 games. He’s been outstanding around the net and I asked him last night about his wrist. He said it is feeling much better and his range of motion has improved. The results show it, but Hyman’s impact is more than just his goal scoring.

He complements Connor McDavid very well. Hyman is excellent on the forecheck, wins a lot of puck battles on the boards, is great at cycling the puck and he retrieves a lot of pucks which he then puts on McDavid’s stick.

In the 19 games with Hyman injured, McDavid averaged 1.42 points/game with 27 points.

In the 31 games with Hyman, McDavid has averaged 1.87 points/game with 58 points.

Obviously at 1.42 pts/GP, McDavid can produce without Hyman, but his return to the lineup has led to more open space in the offensive zone for McDavid and he’s shooting the puck at a much higher rate. Hyman creates space for McDavid in the corners when battling for pucks, but also because of how Hyman is constantly around the net which forces a defender to cover him, which leaves more space for McDavid to attack.

While many people outside of Edmonton scoff at my suggestion that Hyman would be the best choice to replace Brayden Point (if he can’t play) at the Olympics, I believe it is true. It doesn’t mean I think Hyman is a better player than Mark Schiefele, Connor Bedard, Seth Jarvis or Sam Bennett, just that he is a better fit to play RW with him in a short tournament. Hyman knows how to play with McDavid, and that isn’t as easy as some claim. Schiefele, Jarvis and Bedard don’t win board battles or penetrate the front of the net like Hyman. Bennett is great along the boards, but he doesn’t have the same scoring touch around the net. Bennett, Schiefele and Bedard are used to playing centre, and the latter two transport the puck a lot. They won’t do that with McDavid. It is about chemistry and fit, and Hyman would be the best fit. I sense Team Canada views it differently, and it might not matter who goes, as Canada has the deepest lineup, but Hyman’s style and his recent play makes him a strong candidate for me.

Meanwhile, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is quietly having a strong season. RNH is one of 59 forwards with 40+ points this season and his 0.98 PTS/GP is tied for 34th with Cole Caufield, Drake Batherson and Troy Terry.

RNH is on pace for the second-highest PTS/GP of his career. He had 1.27 in 2023 when he tallied 104 points and then produced 0.94 in 2020 (61 in 65 games), and he’s had 0.84 three times in 2012, 2019 and 2024. He’s having his second best season on the powerplay, while still producing solid numbers 5×5 and playing on the penalty kill.

He played his 1,000th game as an Oiler last night and received multiple loud ovations during his pre-game ceremony and a “Nugent-Hopkins” chant in the third period. The fans expressed their love and appreciation and he received it.

“It was an amazing night, one I will never forget and will truly cherish,” he said after the game.

It wasn’t just exciting for him. His teammates were fired up and they played like it.

“I saw him in the hallway just after the game and I told him I know it is his night, but this is something I will talk about for a long time,” Ingram told me. “It was amazing to be a part of. I hope I get to keep the warmup jersey, because it is the only time I will wear a letter (smiles).”

The players also had the name bars in their stalls made specially for the game as on the left side it said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 1,000th game and the date. That will be a cool keepsake for the players. — not to mention the RNH shirt.

“I will be wearing it on the golf course for sure,” laughed Ingram.

It was fitting that Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring, and in doing so he joined a very rare club.

To score in your first NHL game is special, but then to play and score in game 1,000 is even more rare. You could tell this game meant a lot to him and his teammates really wanted to win for him. It was their fifth game in seven days with the Oilers never playing consecutive games in the same city. It was an impressive weekend for them.

Stan Bowman has been working diligently trying to find a trade for Andrew Mangiapane. Mangiapane hasn’t had the year he or the Oilers were hoping for, but there are some teams interested. Mangiapane has $3.6 million remaining on his deal, so I looked at teams who might need help getting to the floor next year.

The salary cap ceiling will be $104 million and the floor will be $76.9 million.

Here’s a look at the teams with the least salary committed for next season:

San Jose: $50.24 million with 13 players.

Pittsburgh: $51 million with 14 players.

Chicago: $56.42 million with 16 players.

Columbus: $57.85 million with 14 players.

Chicago has Nick Foligno, Jason Dickinson, Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty, Connor Murphy and Matt Grzelcyk whose contracts end this season. They also have Shea Weber’s $7.86 million coming off the books.

Connor Bedard needs a new contract, and he’ll get a massive raise to take over Weber’s contract plus another $4-$6 million most likely. The Blackhawks might just re-sign some of their existing veterans but adding Mangiapane and giving up a prospect who Bowman drafted but hasn’t worked out in Chicago is a plausible scenario.

San Jose acquired Keifer Sherwood from Vancouver this morning, so I doubt they’d be in the mix for Mangiapane.

Kasperi Kapanen can’t catch a break. He caught an edge and fell awkwardly into the boards and didn’t return for the final two periods. “He won’t return immediately, but it won’t be long term like his last injury,” said Knoblauch when I asked him about Kapanen’s injury.

I saw Kapanen walking through the dressing room after the game and he was walking quickly without a limp. Kapanen has played great since returning with three goals and seven points in seven games. His speed, shot, play making ability and his physicality were a major addition. Hopefully he can return quickly and the three-week Olympic break can allow him more time to rest. They need him healthy for the stretch drive and the playoffs.

With Kapanen hurt and Leon Draisaitl in Germany tending to a family illness the Oilers have 11 healthy forwards. Draisaitl won’t play tomorrow and is likely out Thursday, but he is expected to play Saturday v. Washington. The Oilers could just dress 11 forwards and seven D-men for the next two games.

The only way they can add another forward, without trading Mangiapane, is if they send Calvin Pickard down, and they’d have to expose him to waivers. I don’t see the risk being worth it. If they can wait until after the Olympic break to sort out his situation, they will. Trading Mangiapane this week would free up space for them to recall a forward.