After wins over the Montreal Canadiens and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/connor-mcdavid-zach-hyman-scores-jake-walman-shines-edmonton-oilers-debut">Dallas Stars</a> last week, the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations">Edmonton Oilers</a> will be looking to reach their first three-game winning streak since January when they face the struggling Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

1. This will be the first game for the Oilers in a four-game New York road trip. They play in Buffalo on Monday, they have a back-to-back against the Devils and Islanders on Thursday and Friday, and then they finish the trip on Sunday with a game at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.
Edmonton&#8217;s last road trip was a disaster and they need to have a better showing with four winnable games on the horizon. The team came out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break with losses against Philadelphia, Washington, Tampa Bay, and Florida before salvaging the trip with a tight win in <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/the-day-after-60-0-oilers-rise-to-the-occasion-against-hurricanes">Carolina</a>.
2. The Oilers are four points back of the Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division standings with the same amount of games played. The Los Angeles Kings are only three points back of Edmonton for second place in the division and they have a game in hand.
These next four games will see the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/schedule">Oilers</a> face one <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2025-nhl-draft-lottery-odds-which-teams-have-the-best-chance-to-select-matthew-schaefer-james-hagens-michael-misa-porter-martone">lottery team</a> and three middling teams who are battling for playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Anything less than three wins would be disappointing, and three wins might be necessary to keep pace with Vegas this week.
The Golden Knights are also about to go on a four-game trip with games against the Penguins, Blue Jackets, Sabres, and Red Wings. That&#8217;s two lottery teams and two middling teams on the slate for one of the league&#8217;s best road squads.
3. With a win in Buffalo on Monday, the Oilers would sweep their season series against the Sabres for the first time since 2018-19. The teams have split the season series in each of the past three seasons and the Sabres won both games in 2019-20.
The Oilers beat the Sabres by a score of 3-2 in Edmonton back in January, which came in the middle of their most recent three-game winning streak. They beat the Canucks, Sabres, and Kraken, and then struggled through February with zero regulation wins over eight games.
Edmonton&#8217;s 5-4 win over Dallas on Saturday was just the team&#8217;s second regulation win over 12 games since the end of January.
4. The additions of Max Jones and Jake Walman seem to have given the Oilers a jolt. Jones picked up an assist and was very noticeable in the team&#8217;s win over the Canadiens on Tuesday and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/jake-walmans-puck-moving-impact-oilers">Walman</a> looked like a legitimate top-pairing defenceman against the Stars on Saturday.
Trent Frederic was on the Injured Reserve when he was acquired from the Boston Bruins and the rugged forward is expected to debut with the Oilers before the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-expect-trent-frederic-debut-before-end-march">end of March</a>. General manager Stan Bowman said Frederic will be used as both the third-line centre and as a top-six winger before the end of the regular season.
5. The Sabres have a 24-32-6 record and sit last in the Eastern Conference with 54 points. It would take some serious tanking, but they have an outside chance at finishing last in the entire league, as Buffalo is only five points ahead of the Blackhawks and 11 points ahead of the Sharks.
After returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break with an 8-2 win over the Rangers and 3-2 win over the Ducks, the Sabres have imploded into a six-game losing streak. This is the team&#8217;s second-longest skid of the season behind only the mammoth 13-game losing streak they had back in November and December.
6. Though the team technically hasn&#8217;t been mathematically eliminated from contention yet, this will be Buffalo&#8217;s 14th consecutive season missing the playoffs, adding to the league&#8217;s all-time drought.
The Sabres are in a league of their own at this point, even well beyond the likes of the Colorado Rockies, California Golden Seals, and Cleveland Barons, for consistent failure in the NHL. The Oilers and Panthers are tied for the second-longest playoff drought in league history at 10 seasons and both teams managed to dig themselves into contention while Buffalo has no end in sight.
The team&#8217;s .435 points percentage is their lowest since all the way back in 2017-18 when they went 25-45-12 and landed Rasmus Dahlin with the top pick in the draft. The Sabres have selected in the top-10 of the draft 10 times since they last made the playoffs in 2010-11 and only three of those players are still with the organization.
Seven of them were traded: Rasmus Ristolainen (eighth overall in 2013), Sam Reinhart (second overall in 2014), Jack Eichel (first overall in 2015), Alex Nylander (eighth overall in 2016), Casey Mittelstadt (eighth overall in 2017), Dylan Cozens (seventh overall in 2019), and Matthew Savoie (ninth overall in 2022).
The three that are still with the Sabres: Rasmus Dahlin (first overall in 2018), Jack Quinn (eighth overall in 2020), and Owen Power (first overall in 2021).

After wins over the Montreal Canadiens and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/connor-mcdavid-zach-hyman-scores-jake-walman-shines-edmonton-oilers-debut">Dallas Stars</a> last week, the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations">Edmonton Oilers</a> will be looking to reach their first three-game winning streak since January when they face the struggling Buffalo Sabres on Monday.



1. This will be the first game for the Oilers in a four-game New York road trip. They play in Buffalo on Monday, they have a back-to-back against the Devils and Islanders on Thursday and Friday, and then they finish the trip on Sunday with a game at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

Edmonton's last road trip was a disaster and they need to have a better showing with four winnable games on the horizon. The team came out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break with losses against Philadelphia, Washington, Tampa Bay, and Florida before salvaging the trip with a tight win in <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/the-day-after-60-0-oilers-rise-to-the-occasion-against-hurricanes">Carolina</a>.

2. The Oilers are four points back of the Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division standings with the same amount of games played. The Los Angeles Kings are only three points back of Edmonton for second place in the division and they have a game in hand.

These next four games will see the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/schedule">Oilers</a> face one <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2025-nhl-draft-lottery-odds-which-teams-have-the-best-chance-to-select-matthew-schaefer-james-hagens-michael-misa-porter-martone">lottery team</a> and three middling teams who are battling for playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Anything less than three wins would be disappointing, and three wins might be necessary to keep pace with Vegas this week.

The Golden Knights are also about to go on a four-game trip with games against the Penguins, Blue Jackets, Sabres, and Red Wings. That's two lottery teams and two middling teams on the slate for one of the league's best road squads.

3. With a win in Buffalo on Monday, the Oilers would sweep their season series against the Sabres for the first time since 2018-19. The teams have split the season series in each of the past three seasons and the Sabres won both games in 2019-20.

The Oilers beat the Sabres by a score of 3-2 in Edmonton back in January, which came in the middle of their most recent three-game winning streak. They beat the Canucks, Sabres, and Kraken, and then struggled through February with zero regulation wins over eight games.

Edmonton's 5-4 win over Dallas on Saturday was just the team's second regulation win over 12 games since the end of January.

4. The additions of Max Jones and Jake Walman seem to have given the Oilers a jolt. Jones picked up an assist and was very noticeable in the team's win over the Canadiens on Tuesday and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/jake-walmans-puck-moving-impact-oilers">Walman</a> looked like a legitimate top-pairing defenceman against the Stars on Saturday.

Trent Frederic was on the Injured Reserve when he was acquired from the Boston Bruins and the rugged forward is expected to debut with the Oilers before the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/oilers-expect-trent-frederic-debut-before-end-march">end of March</a>. General manager Stan Bowman said Frederic will be used as both the third-line centre and as a top-six winger before the end of the regular season.

5. The Sabres have a 24-32-6 record and sit last in the Eastern Conference with 54 points. It would take some serious tanking, but they have an outside chance at finishing last in the entire league, as Buffalo is only five points ahead of the Blackhawks and 11 points ahead of the Sharks.

After returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break with an 8-2 win over the Rangers and 3-2 win over the Ducks, the Sabres have imploded into a six-game losing streak. This is the team's second-longest skid of the season behind only the mammoth 13-game losing streak they had back in November and December.

6. Though the team technically hasn't been mathematically eliminated from contention yet, this will be Buffalo's 14th consecutive season missing the playoffs, adding to the league's all-time drought.

The Sabres are in a league of their own at this point, even well beyond the likes of the Colorado Rockies, California Golden Seals, and Cleveland Barons, for consistent failure in the NHL. The Oilers and Panthers are tied for the second-longest playoff drought in league history at 10 seasons and both teams managed to dig themselves into contention while Buffalo has no end in sight.

The team's .435 points percentage is their lowest since all the way back in 2017-18 when they went 25-45-12 and landed Rasmus Dahlin with the top pick in the draft. The Sabres have selected in the top-10 of the draft 10 times since they last made the playoffs in 2010-11 and only three of those players are still with the organization.

Seven of them were traded: Rasmus Ristolainen (eighth overall in 2013), Sam Reinhart (second overall in 2014), Jack Eichel (first overall in 2015), Alex Nylander (eighth overall in 2016), Casey Mittelstadt (eighth overall in 2017), Dylan Cozens (seventh overall in 2019), and Matthew Savoie (ninth overall in 2022).

The three that are still with the Sabres: Rasmus Dahlin (first overall in 2018), Jack Quinn (eighth overall in 2020), and Owen Power (first overall in 2021).

Oilers Game Notes 64.0: Edmonton begins four-game road trip against Sabres

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