The Edmonton Oilers were looking to keep their slim hopes of home-ice advantage in the first round alive when they visited the league-leading Winnipeg Jets for their third and final matchup of the season. And from the opening draw to the final buzzer, the injury-riddled Oilers battled hard and handled their business at both ends of the rink for a near-perfect road game and a massive 4-1 win.

Stuart Skinner hadn’t played since taking a knee to the head from Mikko Rantanen on March 26th when Dallas visited Rogers Place and facing the first-place Winnipeg Jets in his first game back was getting thrown into the deep end. But if the injury-riddled Oilers are going to make some noise in the playoffs, they’ll need Stu at the top of his game, and there was no better test than Winnipeg to see where he’s at coming back after a few weeks on the shelf. The Jets not only score more goals than the Oilers do, but they also give up less, meaning a win would start with a strong performance in net. At least, that’s what I thought before the game started.

What I didn’t expect was that the Jets would only produce 18 shots on net. I knew they played the night before, but I underestimated how much that 5-4 shoot out win over the Blackhawks took out of them. Even with Nikolaj Ehlers out with injury, the Jets struggled mightily to generate much beyond flinging pucks on net from the rush. Even so, Stuart Skinner had to be steady and he was. From the big saves he made early in the first period to mastering his domain down the stretch, Stu gave his teammates the foundation to build upon, and while he only had to make 17 saves (.944 save%) for the win, the result never seemed in doubt. Skinner was there to handle anything that came his way. And if that’s not a gold star beside his name for his first game back from injury, then I don’t know what is.

I don’t know what it is about the end of the season, but the spring air seems to waken the offensive demon inside Connor Brown. We saw him do the same thing last year with his late-season heater, and it looks like he’s gearing up for a repeat performance here in 2024-25. With the goal Brown lifted over Eric Comrie to open the scoring, not only did he continue to show chemistry on a line with Connor McDavid and Jeff Skinner, but now he’s scored in three consecutive games to bring this heater of his to five goals in the last six games. That’s the kind of secondary scoring we’ve been dreaming of all season, and my wish is that he never walks away from the table.

These are the depth goals that matter most when the games do, too. And while we know Brown’s heater will invariably cool at some point, the critical point is that he’s playing his best hockey of the year at the most crucial point of the campaign. Having him keep the good times rolling would be one fewer box to check off on the ‘needs’ list when the Oilers and Kings get going on Round 4 of their annual playoff meeting a week from now. I’m not suggesting that Brown has to transform himself into a 30-goal scorer or anything like that, but I am saying that having him chip in with goals will be a key need against L.A. and beyond. The Gords have blessed Brown with some touch, and all we’re asking him to do is keep unleashing it. I believe in you, Connor Brown. I believe.

If Corey Perry is going to keep turning back the clock with clutch goals at big moments, then I’m going to keep writing about it. Considering that Perry and I are roughly the same age, watching him have a season like the one he had has been so much fun. When the Oilers re-signed him in the summer, I wondered if he could live up to the $1.4 million contract the team gave him. I meant no disrespect — everybody knows about his 50-goal MVP season — but that was a long time ago, and the Oilers are a team that needs to spend every dollar wisely. But as the season wears on, how can you not look at that number and think Perry’s 18 goals and 28 points while averaging around 12 minutes/night is one of the best bargains around?

Despite being one of the last guys from his draft class still playing in the NHL, Perry is putting down his best season in the previous three years, including his highest goal total since 2022. The guy gives everything he’s got on a nightly basis, and he’s doing it in any role the coach asks of him. Even at this point in his career, Corey Perry is still proving to be a Swiss Army Knife with the ability to move up and down the lineup depending on the situation, and it sure has been fun watching the Worm do his thing in an Oilers uniform. I never thought I’d say that after watching him torment our team for nearly two decades. Perry’s time with Edmonton has been a wonderful surprise, and I’m hopeful this chapter ends with a big silver prize.

1. Much like I wrote about Connor Brown above, another guy who will be a key piece in what happens in the playoffs is Adam Henrique. Henrique will be a guy that Kris Knoblauch will need to perform at both ends of the rink. He’s likely to be a gave who faces tough opposition in the first round, and we need our handsome king to come through. Henrique’s 12th goal of the season came from driving to the net and having the perfect hand-eye to knock the puck in out of the air.

2. Viktor Arvidsson scored into the empty net! For real! The empty net!

3. It wouldn’t be an Oilers game if there weren’t another guy who had to leave for medical attention. This time, it was Troy Stecher who exited early with what looked like some type of lower-body injury, adding to the seemingly endless run of bad luck that seems to be lurking around every turn like paparazzi.

4. The assist Derek Ryan picked up on Corey Perry’s third period goal was his first in the NHL since January 4th when he grabbed a helper in Seattle. Ryan was recalled to help fill in for the list of wounded soldiers on the roster, and the veteran of 606 NHL games came through with a quality assist. Doing this one for my man Woz, the biggest Derek Ryan fan outside of his family members.

5. Edmonton lost the special teams battle, dropping on goal on two shorthanded situations, while the power play couldn’t get anything done on the lone opportunity they had with the man advantage. Not that it was a chippy game or anything, but I still don’t understand how 60 minutes of NHL hockey was played, and the officials only saw fit to call three total infractions.

6. No Sunday Funday is ever complete without you knowing that the Oilers won only 43.5% of the faceoffs. We can’t win ’em all.

7. Make it another two points for Connor McDavid to bring him to 99 on the season.

8. I know this has nothing to do with the game, but how about the Masters going to a playoff hole? Watching Rory miss his par put at 18 and having to face Justin Rose was a perfect example of why sports are the best reality show around. Rory gets his career grand slam, which came in one of the coolest ways possible. What a finish at Augusta.