The Edmonton Oilers needed that.

They really needed that.

About everything that could’ve gone their way Thursday night did in their 9-4 walloping of the Seattle Kraken, as Connor McDavid notched his 13th career hat trick, four players posted three or more points, and many a milestone was hit.

For McDavid, he’s faced some criticism all season about his shot volume, which has seen his shots on goal per hour rate and shot attempt per hour rates near the lowest of his entire career. Three goals, seven shots and eight shot attempts later…

“As I said before, I thought I passed a couple away the other night and ultimately cost us losing a 1-0 game,” said the Oilers captain. “Who knows if I score on one of those? So definitely thought about shooting a little more.”

While McDavid’s four-point night was undoubtedly big for someone the Oilers need at his best every night, there were more than a few other players who could feel really good about their game. That’s because for just the third time in the past 35 years, four Oilers had three or more points.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and four points, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard each put up a trio of assists. Meanwhile, Matt Savoie scored twice — once shorthanded and another on a late power play — Adam Henrique and Mattias Ekholm had a pair of assists, Andrew Mangiapane had an assist as Vasily Podkolzin, Zach Hyman and Mattias Janmark all scored.

The offence didn’t just come in bursts, however, as the Oilers had a trio of goals in each period — something the franchise hadn’t done in a game since Oct. 21st, 1986 when they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 9-1.

“We haven’t really had that all year, so (it) feels good to get a couple as a group and hopefully guys are feeling good about themselves and can build on it,” said McDavid.

Savoie is one of the players who was well deserving of the offensive night. While the numbers — both in boxscores and his analytics — haven’t fully represented the contributions he’s made early on in his rookie year, Savoie’s confidence has grown.

“I think as the season’s progressed, I’ve just got more confident, more comfortable with the puck on my stick, and I think just in all situations,” he said. “So definitely feel good out there right now, and I’m just looking to build off that.”

For the Oilers, they’ll be looking to carry forth the momentum from not just Thursday’s game, but from their last six. They’ve gone 3-2-1 in those games dating back to their 2-1 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, with these games feeling like some of their best of the season.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch, meanwhile, isn’t quite ready to say the team has broken out.

“We’re getting there. I don’t think this is quite our team yet,” he said. “I think we still have things to work on.

“I don’t think Seattle was at their best tonight. I know they had a long break and I think we took advantage of that, but I’m starting to see a lot more things from our team that I like. It all starts with our compete and attention to detail in the defensive zone, and if you don’t compete and if you don’t defend well, you can’t win regularly… And I see, especially at the end of the road trip when we’re in Tampa Bay and Florida, we were a lot more dialed into playing better defensive hockey and that’s what we’re going to need to do.”

Edmonton’s schedule rolls along Saturday when the Connor Hellebuyck-less Winnipeg Jets roll into town, before the team closes out their five-game homestand against the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday, and Detroit Red Wings Thursday.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.