Have the Edmonton Oilers found their mojo?

Is the early-season slump over?

Have they, like in the last two years, finally started to find their game two months into the season?

The latest stretch of games, punctuated by a 6-2 walloping of the Winnipeg Jets, shows that might be the case.

It still might be too soon to say “The Oilers are back,” but maybe a “The Oilers are getting there” is more appropriate. The Oilers have now moved to 4-2-1 over their last seven games, dating back to their 2-1 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 20. That was the game, after all, where it felt like the Oilers turned a corner in how they were playing, fresh off a 7-4 loss to the Washington Capitals a night before.

“Nobody wants to start the way we have in the past couple years,” said Leon Draisaitl after the game. “We want to get off to better starts. But I think at the end of the day, there’s an underlying confidence within our group that we know how to play.

“We just have to just got to do it more often at the start of the year, and we weren’t able to do that. So again, hopefully we can continue to string them together here.”

And on Saturday night, Draisaitl and the stars came to play for the Oilers once again as they strung another together. It took all of seven and a half minutes for them to build a 3-0 lead, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Matt Savoie all got on the board, and five minutes later, Evan Bouchard scored with a man advantage to put an exclamation mark on the first period. The four-goal first frame was the fourth straight period in which they had done so, the first time it’s happened for the organization since October 21-22, 1986.

The Oilers chased Eric Comrie from the crease, and the offence didn’t stop, as Curtis Lazar got on the board with the first shot that backup Thomas Milic faced in the second, and David Tomášek added a sixth in the third period.

“You can’t take a single day for granted,” said Lazar after the game. “Especially you said you’re able to line up whatever happens, happens. But when you get the call, you want to be able to do a job. I know what I can offer and how I can help a team win.

“And I was glad to just kind of take that next step tonight. Doesn’t matter if you’re limited or your minutes are limited or whatnot you still want to make most of your opportunities.”

While pleased with how many players got on the board for the Oilers — two of which goals came from fourth-liners — score effects started to take over in the third and the Jets pushed back, something head coach Kris Knoblauch would’ve liked to see his team handle better.

“I’d say the first two periods, it was a 10 out of 10. I loved a lot of things,” said Knoblauch. “Offensively I thought we had created a lot.

“Just the confidence with the puck, we’re moving it fast. And then defensively, I don’t think we gave up very much in the first 40. And then third period, there’s obviously score effects where, you know, we weren’t our best. We laid back a little bit, but overall it was a pretty solid game.”

The Oilers will close out their five-game homestand this week, welcoming the Buffalo Sabres to town on Tuesday night and the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, before embarking on a five-game road trip.

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.