The Edmonton Oilers netminder smiled ear to ear when he was interviewed by Tony Brar in-house after the 4-2 win over Anaheim on Saturday afternoon. Ingram held down the fort despite the Ducks’ furious attempt for their 26th comeback victory of the season, making 29 saves on 31 shots.

He alluded to Rudd’s appearance on the popular YouTube series Hot Ones that became a meme, as the crowd applauded his effort.

Credit to the Oilers. Everything about that game reeked of being a disappointing scheduled loss, a flat spot-type excuse. But they weren’t emotionally disengaged, and they didn’t overpass the puck: hallmarks of their game once they get a couple of wins under their belt.

It was 90 per cent a great effort and 10 per cent a hold-on-tight-for-dear-life stretch.

The Oilers now have 97.1 per cent odds to make the playoffs, according to Moneypuck. A week ago, following the Connor McDavid comments about Jon Cooper and, therefore, Kris Knoblauch, there was certainly strife in northern Alberta. Deservedly so.

There’s no changing the past. The Oilers will not be an elite regular-season team this season.

But they’ve been afforded time to figure out a structured version of their game, especially without Leon Draisaitl. The flip side is that it’s forced the guts of the team to step up and play elevated roles.

They are showing they’re capable.

Dialled in early

One area that’s gotten my attention is the Oilers’ first periods. They’ve only allowed four first-period goals in their last seven games.

The Oilers are starting games on time. Now, they do still have fire drill stretches, like the third period against Anaheim. Luckily, they have a defensively focused sicko like Jason Dickinson, who left Rogers Place genuinely bothered he was on the ice for two goals against.

“It definitely got a little tighter than it needed to,” said Dickinson after the win. “We were playing such a good game until those two goals.

“I’ll wear those on my shoulders – they are going to bug me.”.

It was a great week for Dickinson quotes. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector had a prescient moment when he asked Dickinson whether he had much hatred yet for Vegas.

“I haven’t quite built up that hatred for Vegas. I haven’t had quite as many run-ins, maybe as Edmonton and the Edmonton fan.”

Fast forward to the end of the first period, Dickinson got laid out by a penalty-worthy, and fine-worthy, chicken wing hit from Jeremy Lauzon. In turn, Dickinson created a massive scrum to end the period.

It’s this emotional engagement that’s been lacking from the Oilers’ game at times this year.

Good play becomes expensive

Stan Bowman has done what he sought out to do at the trade deadline. He acquired pieces that fulfill specific roles with Dickinson and Murphy in his quest to build “a team.”

Mapping out the long-term vision of this team will be no easy task, however. Those two additions, quickly becoming fan favourites, are right now in the rental category.

Combined with Jack Roslovic, who is now a 20-goal scorer this season, and Connor Ingram, who put up a .935 save percentage yesterday, all four players need new contracts. There’s also Kasperi Kapanen, Curtis Lazar, Adam Henrique, Max Jones pending, plus the ability to extend Matt Savoie to his next contract.

According to PuckPedia, the Oilers have roughly $16.7 million in cap space next year.

Who gets priority?

I maintain that Ingram should be done first. Like tomorrow, if you want to work on Sunday. Getting Ingram extended for cost certainty at the goaltending position, while the Tristan Jarry situation looms, makes other roster priorities easier.

The salary cap may be going up, but it still crunches mightily.

A positive wrap-up

The Oilers only trailed for three minutes and 15 seconds this week. That’s a good week.

With a 3-0 record, they’ll get one more chance to improve upon a March record that sits at 8-4-1. They’ll only play two more games against a team with a positive goal differential the rest of the way (unless Vegas flips the script by Saturday).

Vegas surged back from a 3-0 deficit to take a one-goal lead in the third period against the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. In the end, they lost in the shootout. Adin Hill does not seem right, but in a Gary Bettman world, a Gary Bettman point will do.

As we know, the Ducks win puts the Oilers three points back of the division lead.

There’s a real argument that it’s more beneficial for the Oilers to play the Golden Knights in the Pacific 2-3 seed matchup than against a wildcard Utah team. More of the devil you know type of approach. With that said, ending this ridiculous 39-year divisional drought seems like an appropriate accolade for the McDavid-era Oilers.

If the Oilers continue cutting and pasting the type of road performances they’ve had to start the month to their home game the rest of the way, then winning the division and ensuring home ice for potentially two playoff rounds will only help.

Record this week: 3-0
Record without Draisaitl: 4-2
Record vs Pacific: 13-5-3
Home record vs Pacific: 8-0-2

This week:

Home vs. Seattle Kraken on Tuesday
Home vs. Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday
Home vs Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday

3-2-1 format

With such a high percentage of games going to overtime this season, and the loser points merchants like the Los Angeles Kings staying afloat, here’s a look at what the NHL standings would be under a 3-2-1 points system. Regulation wins would be worth three points, overtime and shootout wins worth two, and so on.

These are standings as of results completed on Saturday, March 28.

Atlantic

Buffalo: 37-8-20-8 | 135pts
Tampa Bay: 36-9-21-6 | 132pts
Boston: 30-11-24-9 | 121pts (up 1)

Montreal: 29-12-21-10 | 121pts* (down 1)
Ottawa: 32-6-25-10 | 118pts*
Detroit: 27-11-26-8 | 111pts
Florida: 27-8-34-3 | 100pts (up 1)
Toronto: 23-8-30-13 | 98pts (down 1)

Metro

Carolina: 33-13-20-6 | 131pts
Pittsburgh: 29-7-21-16 | 117pts (up 1)
New York I: 28-14-27-5 | 117pts (down 1)

Washington: 31-6-28-9 | 114pts (up 2)
Columbus: 27-11-24-11 | 114pts (down 1)
Philadelphia: 23-13-24-12 | 107pts (down 1)
New Jersey: 25-12-33-2 | 101pts
New York R: 19-9-35-9 | 84pts

Central

Colorado: 42-6-14-10 | 148pts
Dallas: 34-10-18-11 | 133pts
Minnesota: 26-15-21-12 | 120pts

Utah: 29-9-30-6 | 108pts*
Nashville: 25-9-30-9 | 102pts*
St. Louis: 27-4-30-11 | 100pts (up 1)
Winnipeg: 25-6-30-12 | 99pts (down 1)
Chicago: 20-7-32-13 | 87pts

Pacific

Edmonton: 28-9-28-9 | 111pts (up 1)
Anaheim: 24-17-27-4 | 110pts (down 1)
Vegas: 24-8-26-16 | 104pts

Seattle: 25-7-29-11 | 100pts (up 1)
Los Angeles: 19-10-26-18 | 95pts (down 1)
Calgary: 24-7-34-8 | 94pts (up 1)
San Jose: 21-12-31-7 | 94pts (down 1)
Vancouver: 14-7-43-8 | 64pts

Some interesting notes. The Oilers would be leading the Pacific Division. The Kings would be seven points back of the wildcard. The Blues recent run would have them two points out of the wildcard, as opposed to four points under the current format.

In the Eastern Conference, the regulation wins would put Ottawa in the last wildcard. They’re one point out currently. Detroit would have an uphill battle ahead seven points out of the wildcard, as opposed to being one point out in the current system.

I find this format interesting to look at occasionally, but there is a 0.00 per cent chance that Bettman would ever use it. Bad teams are left in the dust quicker. Belief sells tickets.

Notes:

Since the Olympic break, the Blues are 11-2-2 and are dominating five-on-five with a 66 per cent goal share. Joel Hofer is the best goaltender in goals saved above expected and Jordan Binnington has been much improved. This will only work to worsen their draft lottery odds in a pursuit of ninth place in the West, but there is still a 12 per cent chance of making the playoffs. They play mainly against the teams right beside them, but still have the Avalanche twice.
There has never been a taller fight in NHL history than the one on Saturday night. Vancouver Canucks forward Curtis Douglas, who stands 6’9″, took on Calgary Flames forward Adam Klapka, standing 6’8″. The fight wasn’t too exciting, but it did tie the tallest scraps of all-time. Zdeno Chara and Steve McKenna fought three times from 2001 to 2004 according to Sportsnet Stats. We need tape measures to settle this.
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#Canucks Curtis Douglas: 6'9'' #Flames Adam Klapka: 6'8" Tied for the tallest fight in NHL history 6'9'' Zdeno Chara & 6'8'' Steve McKenna fought 3 times from 2001-2004
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2:56 AM · Mar 29, 2026
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Spencer Carbery broke my heart this week. I mentioned last week the ongoing status of Alex Ovechkin going the entire season without starting a single shift in the defensive zone. It’s been a talking point on social media throughout the season. With no regard for fun, Carbery, inexplicably, started Ovechkin in the defensive zone off the draw on Tuesday against the Utah Mammoth, twice! Truly disappointing that this anomaly draws to an end.
Ovechkin had a hat-trick in that game by the way. In a week, he surged past 1000 career goals, regular season and playoffs combined, and surpassed Brett Hull for scoring a hat-trick against his 21st different franchise. Ovechkin has 39 three-goal games, the fourth most ever.
Near miss. The New York Rangers got a friendly stat correction early last week when their putrid nine shots on goal against the Ottawa Senators were upgraded to 10. A ticker tape parade is reportedly not in the works. It’s the lowest in franchise history since the stat was first tracked in 1959-60. No team post-lockout has been held to single digits on the shot clock.
Clawing history? Just how dreadful has the Vancouver Canucks season been? The NBA expansion Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995-96 won only 10 home games. This year’s Vancouver Canucks have won eight. Yikes.

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