Despite beating the Predators on Sunday night, the big story from the evening was Leon Draisaitl leaving the game after a hit along the boards, which clearly left more damage than we might have initially anticipated. On Tuesday, the Oilers announced the former MVP would miss the remainder of the season with a lower-body injury. Yet, despite the vibes being down around here as a result of the Draisaitl news, the show must go on. And with the San Jose Sharks in town for the third meeting of the season series, the Oilers didn’t have time to feel sorry for themselves.

On a day when the Oilers announced that Leon Draisaitl would be missing the remainder of the regular season, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins spoke about guys needing to step up and do what they can to fill No. 29’s shoes. He spoke about players needing to do more and find ways to ease the burden of this loss, and I was pumped to see him follow through. Our King didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk. Not only was Nugent-Hopkins his usual Swiss Army Knife self, with shifts happening in all spots in all situations, but he also pitched in with a huge power play goal to help kickstart the offence. When the times get tough, you need your leaders to put their best foot forward, and from my side of the TV screen, Nuge did exactly that.

But as much as I always love to write about Nuge goals, it’s going to take more than one night of putting goals on the board for the Oilers to not only get into the playoffs but to do so with as little stress as possible. The standings are way too tight for my liking right now, and RNH is a guy we’ll need to chop some wood and carry some water. Good teams find ways to win games even when their best players are out, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is one of the guys who needs to add more onto his plate. For the longest tenured Oiler, this is a big moment where he needs to step up and be the next man up. He followed through on what he said needed to happen after Leon went down, now the challenge will be to keep building on what he started.

Not that any of us expect Connor Murphy to be a big point producer — that’s just not his thing — but I’d be lying if I didn’t nearly punch a hole in my roof from fist pumping so hard after he scored his first as an Oiler. There’s something about a defensive d-man scoring that gets the blood pumping, you know? I know he’s only been around for a few games at this point, but I’m quickly falling in love with how the guy plays. There’s nothing flashy about Murphy’s game, but what you know you’re going to get from him is some hard-nosed defending and a guy willing to put his body on the line to keep pucks out of the net. What more could you ask for?

It’s been a while since we’ve had a big defensive defenceman like Murphy who can easily be thrown out against the other team’s top line when you need it. As much as Vinny Desharnais is a mountain of a man, he was never as good as Murphy is on a nightly basis, and it makes me wonder when the last time we even had a guy like this around here was. Either way, my love affair with Connor Murphy is growing by the shift, and I was pumped to see him get rewarded with his first goal on a seeing-eye wrister from the point. They don’t all have to be pretty, but even the lucky goals are beautiful to me. In 18:21 of TOI, Murphy finished with the goal, three shots, and two hits. Not a bad evening for our new stallion of stabilization. Ehhh, it’s a work in progress.

It goes without saying that the Oilers can’t replace Leon Draisaitl. No call-up, line combo blender, or anything else the team does can fill the shoes left by Draisaitl’s injury. That’s life when you lose one of your best players for the remainder of the regular season. All the team can really do is ask everyone else to step up. If there is a bright side to this situation, it’s that other guys will get more opportunities to try and fill the void, and that bodes well for some of the guys who would love more offensive situations. Of course, this plan only works if the guys who are getting the extra minutes can do something with the spotlight on them. More importantly, the Oilers need this to work.

And on the first night without Draisaitl on the ice, the Oilers came through with contributions from throughout the lineup. In total, 13 different players registered points on the five goals, and I couldn’t think of a better way to win one for their injured teammate. On the broadcast, Bob Stauffer mentioned that Draisaitl would be the first guy to cheer for his teammates to keep pushing forward without him, and I think he must be very pleased with how things shook out against San Jose. I mean, I could have definitely done without blowing the two-goal lead and letting the Sharks up off the mat, but the important part of the story is that Edmonton got the depth scoring they needed to lock in a massive divisional win.

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