Those issues returned in a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, a night where a woman going into labour at Rogers Place, and a fan getting bloodied with a puck provided some of the best highlights.

The Oilers threatened to push late in the second period and at the beginning of the third. But alas.

Woz

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Someone got hit in the head by a puck and apparently a woman is giving birth at Rogers Place, what a Saturday night.

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4:17 AM · Apr 5, 2026

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Between mistakes with the puck, a power play that couldn’t carry over momentum after scoring on Thursday, a Golden Knights forecheck that controlled the second period, and the removal of Zach Hyman from the top-six, it was one of those nights.

“The story was just the chances we gave up off the rush,” said coach Kris Knoblauch post-game, who had called the game “adequate” overall.

“When things are going well, you can forget about those details, those first couple strides coming back, you get a little extra aggressive on the pinch. You’re just maybe overconfident, get a little bit lazy, or whatever it is, I think we’re just were not paying attention to those details.”

The end of game chirping saw Trent Frederic in the middle of the jocular jabs, colour commentator Louis Debrusk gripping the microphone tight so no expletives seeped onto the air. It led to the quip of the night.

“It’s just bickering back and forth, everyone telling everyone they make too much money, stuff like that, which is all true,” said Frederic.

Touché.

Hyman hurts

The Oilers three game trip gets more interesting with the news that Hyman won’t travel with the team. Line combinations that were working the win streak need re-evaluating, as the Oilers are missing 66 goals from their lineup, a total of 24.9 per cent.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wasn’t working with McDavid’s line, and the Oilers scored their lone goal after Jack Roslovic replaced him. Roslovic’s third line with Samanski and Kapanen had a tough night, the victims of many of those rush chances.

It would make sense to have a good long look at the powerplay in practice. The Oilers are 2/24 without Draisaitl. The PK’s streak of 12 straight kills was snapped, and is 16/20 during that same span.

Considering how inconsistent the five-on-five offence has been all season, for the Oilers to be minus-2 on special teams and go 7-3 without their second best player is very impressive. They’re 11th in both five-on-five goal share and expected goal share across the NHL in the last 10 games, according to Moneypuck. It translates to a plus-3 goal differential even-strength in that stretch.

That’s not something I thought this Oilers team could do without Draisaitl.

That’s especially true with Connor McDavid’s play. He hasn’t gone supernova. In fact, there’s been games where he seems to be forcing pucks, particularly on the powerplay. The man has 126 points this season, so far be it for me to tell Connor McDavid how to play offence. With that said, he hasn’t been super sharp in the last couple of games.

I anticipate he’ll play a more direct game again in Utah.

Pacific tightens

The Golden Knights were due and played with an urgency to avoid being swept by the Oilers in the season series. It’s disappointing that the Oilers squandered an opportunity to create separation in the division, as the Anaheim Ducks lost to Calgary at home, getting no points in a back-to-back against two non-playoff teams.

Edmonton remains in first on a tiebreaker, but now Vegas is just one point back of both clubs.

This was the start of a four game road trip for the VGK. They’ll head to Vancouver, Seattle, and Colorado, return home and play Winnipeg and Seattle to finish up.

Anaheim will continue their homestand and host Nashville, San Jose, and Vancouver. They wrap up on the road against Minnesota and Nashville.

Overall, if you asked an Oilers fan if they’d accept winning three out of four against Vegas this season, they’d take it 100 times out of 100. Same with winning three out of four games on this homestand, especially with the injuries.

This was still a good week for the Edmonton Oilers.

Record in March: 9-4-1
Home record in 2026: 11-10-1
Record vs Pacific: 14-6-3
Home record vs Pacific: 9-1-2
Road record in 2026: 8-4-2

This week:

Away at Utah Mammoth on Tuesday
Away at San Jose Sharks on Wednesday
Away at Los Angeles Kings on Saturday

The best potential first round

Early Saturday, before the Buffalo Sabres played game 77 of their season, the 14-year playoff drought mercifully came to a close.

I’ve championed Buffalo as my Eastern Conference bandwagon team, a hockey market similar to Edmonton that’s deserved better from ownership down since Terry Pegula bought the team in 2011.

Their run is one of the most unlikely in hockey history. For a team so far down they couldn’t see the doldrums, to reel off a 34-9-4 mark since December 9 is the stuff hockey dreams are made of.

“There’s no celebration,” said coach Lindy Ruff, who also coached the Sabres in 2011, the last time Western New York had playoff hockey.

“You’ve got to be proud of what you do and how hard you’ve worked, and the goal that we set at the start of the year to be in the playoffs. We still have a lot of work to do, and I think they understand that.

Buffalo could nab the top seed in the conference. They could also start their playoff series on the road. That’s how tight it is at the top of the Atlantic Division. They have been losing a bit more often lately, and suffered a 6-2 loss to Washington on Saturday night.

But just imagine the excitement of a Sabres vs Canadiens first-round series.

Winners of eight in a row, the youth insurgency has Habs fans excited. I wrote before the season began that I just wanted to see it first with this team. Can they have a great regular season before they become the anointed future Stanley Cup champs?

Check.

Now the jury is still out whether their style of hockey will translate well to the playoff bump and grind, which is why avoiding Tampa Bay in the first round is a good plan.

But signs are encouraging. Jakub Dobes is fresh off of being named first star of the week. Cole Caufield is about to hit 50 goals. Nick Suzuki is also on the cusp of ending a 40-year drought in the belle province of no 100-point scorer.

Mats Naslund was the last Canadien to achieve a 100-point season back in 1985-86. Every season, Suzuki has increased his point totals. He’s never taken a step back in terms of production. He needs just six points in the last seven games to hit the century mark.

It makes sense when you think about it, but there’s only been four Canadiens to ever hit 100 points. Guy Lafleur, Peter Mahovlich, and Steve Shutt, along with Naslund, are the only ones to ever do it. Still, that number seems rather low.

On Caufield, he’s neck and neck with Nathan MacKinnon for the Rocket Richard Trophy. It would be fitting for Caulfield to become the first Hab to win the award named for the Canadiens greatest player.

Their last 50-goal scorer was Stephane Richer in 1989-90 and six players have done it throughout their history.

Bottom line: Buffalo vs Montreal would be high-quality entertainment. The only thing missing is the legendary voice of Rick Jeanneret.

Who starts?

Jared Bednar might have made his decision on which -wood will get the net. To me, it’s Scott over Mackenzie.

It’s no coincidence the Avs blanked the second-place team in the league in the Dallas Stars 2-0 after allowing eight goals to the 32nd place team in Vancouver on Wednesday. Soon to be Presidents’ Trophy winners, the result against the Canucks was the most head-scratching boxscore of the season.

When asked if there were any positives out of the game, Bednar said, “none.”

“There’s no excuse. If we’re making excuses for that performance, it’s going to be a short run,” said Bednar.

Mackenzie Blackwood allowed six goals on 19 shots against Vancouver. It was the second time in Colorado’s last six games they’ve yanked a starter, as Scott Wedgewood got pulled against Pittsburgh on March 24.

Wedgewood remains the league leader in goals against average and save percentage. He made 17 saves in Saturday’s win, the lone game in their season series to not go to the shootout.

On the other end, Glen Gulutzan has been equal parts head coach and medical reporter as of late.

The Dallas Stars did get Mikko Rantanen back into the mix, but Roope Hintz, Michael Bunting, Radek Faksa, Sam Steel, Nathan Bastian, and Tyler Myers are all out. Many of these names are expected to appear when it matters. The injuries have coincided with the Stars winning just three of their last 11 games.

Notes:

Verticals meeting horizontals: Keith Pelley’s press conference following the dismissal of general manager Brad Treliving should give Leafs haters hope. The man who oversees six professional sports teams had a few cringeworthy moments. Whether it was randomly bringing up division rivals or mispronouncing the names of prospects, the corporate jargon behind every answer, the presser was a trainwreck, but a gift for our friends at Leafs Nation. Confidence levels are low for many fans who want to see the Leafs get it right.
Upset alert? The Edmonton Oil Kings need to muster up a better effort or they’ll be upset and knocked out of the first round of WHL playoffs. The three-seed Oil Kings finished 20 points better than the Saskatoon Blades, but find themselves down 3-2 in the series. Game 6 is Easter Sunday. Cold Lake’s Jaxon Fuder provided some of the entertainment with this spirited scrap in the second period with Blades captain Tyler Parr.
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JUNIOR HOCKEY PLAYOFFS ARE UNDEFEATED.
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2:34 AM · Apr 4, 2026
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Moreau mowdown: Chris Pronger is all over the interview circuit promoting his new book Earned that will be out in mid-April. Much like a politician publishes a book before a leadership run, I get the sense Pronger might be campaigning for a front-office job. Pronger says there will be a chapter on the Oilers debacle, which will be must read. Also of note, the sitdown with Rich Eisen revealed this tidbit: the hardest hit we ever took was from former Oilers captain Ethan Moreau.
Price’s elite teammate: Macklin Celebrini became the sixth teenager to ever record 100 points in a season. While his Hart Trophy stock rises, it’s been pointed out that he also became Carey Price’s first teammate to ever hit the century mark. Salary cap dumps be damned.
Other milestones: Sidney Crosby surpassed Steve Yzerman for seventh all-time in points, now sitting at 1756 points. One of his assists was on an Evgeni Malkin powerplay goal, which was Geno’s 1400th point. Brent Burns just played 1000 consecutive games and is 64 back of Phil Kessel’s all-time record. That streak began in 2013, which is incredible for a 41-year-old.
Medal games: Junior B Provincials conclude Sunday afternoon in the Border City. The Medicine Hat Cubs will take on the La Crete Lumber Barons. In the bronze medal game, my Vermilion Tigers face the Sherwood Park Knights.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.

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