The Edmonton Oilers had one last game on the schedule before getting six days off for the Christmas break, and they had a tall order on deck with the visiting Ottawa Senators. The Sens came into last night’s rematch on a six-game win streak, but all good things must end, as the Oilers extended their own win streak on the back of a 3-1 victory at Rogers Place.

With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins out due to illness, Viktor Arvidsson got bumped up to the first line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, and the promotion paid dividends almost immediately. After a nice keep-in along the boards in the offensive zone, Connor McDavid wound up with the puck below the goal line and found Arvidsson charging toward the net, hitting his stick for the backdoor tap-in. In his third game back from injury, Arvidsson picked up his first goal since November 9th in Vancouver.

Judging by the look on his face when the puck went in, that goal must have felt pretty damned good. There aren’t many people who are pumped about how his first season as an Oilers has started, but it would be great if scoring against the Sens and adding an assist could give the guy a dose of confidence as he heads into the break. It would be a massive win for this team if he could stay healthy and start chipping in with some complimentary offence, which is precisely why he was signed in the first place.

This might have been Arvidsson’s best game so far this season. Just me?

With the power play goal he scored in the back half of the second period, Zachary Martin Hyman maintained his position as the hottest man alive. Since coming back from injury on December 6th against Columbus, ZMH has 10 goals in his last nine games. That’s the kind of heater that doesn’t come around often and puts him back on pace for 35 goals over an 82-game season. That’s pretty remarkable, given the slot start he had when certain other fanbases seemed to think the guy forgot how to score goals.

To make this goal run even more fun, the fact that it runs in conjunction with not being named to Team Canada’s 4 Nations roster is especially funny to me. I know I keep bringing this up in my articles, but how can you not laugh when see how hot he is and how foolish it is that he’s not on that team. Either way, I’m loving the Hyman Bubble Era not only for how productive he’s been, but also because it feels like we’re watching him transform into Ryan Smyth right in front of our eyes. The guys gives you 1000 percent effort every time he’s on the ice, and it’s been a real pleasure watching him do his thing over the last three+ years.

Even though it’s still way too early to get excited about the playoffs, it is nice to know that the Oilers leapt over the L.A. Kings into second place with their win over the Sens. We all know there’s still plenty of work to do before the divisional seeding matters, it’s still nice to have another small win going the Oilers way as they make their way into the Christmas break. I know we’re past the point of celebrating silver linings, but I also think this would be a good one to fist pump a little bit after the slow start Edmonton had to the season.

1. I’m not going to pile on the kid because social media is already doing it enough, but Evan Bouchard was clearly feeling festive with the way he was giving the puck away any chance he got.

2. It seemed like only a matter of time before Adam Henrique would find the back of the net considering some of the quality chances he’s earned for himself over the last week or two. The guys has had a handful of solid looks on net, but couldn’t get anything to work out until Mattias Janmark found him in the slot at the 1:38 mark of the third period with enough time and space to pick his spot. The goal was Henrique’s first in 16 games, and you’d have to think that one felt good for the 15-year vet.

3. Shout out to Derek Ryan for playing in his 600th NHL game. That’s quite the feat for a guy who didn’t crack the big leagues until he was 29 years old. To get your shot that late and still carve out a career this long is very impressive, and I wanted to give DR a little bit of love for the accomplishment.

4. I’ve got plenty of love for Stuart Skinner for the 20 saves and .952 save percentage he put down against the Senators. Not that it was his busiest night between the pipes, but many of the saves he made came from dangerous areas or were incredibly important situationally. The win also gives Skinner a stretch of games where he’s post better than a .923 in nine of his last 11 starts. If you were hard on him to start the year, it’s only fair that you give the guy some love for the way he’s elevated his game in December.

5. Make it nine straight games with at least a point for Leon Draisaitl, who now has 20 (7G, 13A) over that span. With the assist he notched on Arvidsson’s goal, Connor McDavid also extended his point streak to nine games with 18 points (3G, 15A) on the board. When these two are humming like they are right now, the Oilers are nearly impossible to beat.

6. I know Zach Hyman’s goal came on the power play, but did anyone else think the boys looked mediocre by their own standards for the other four opportunities? I guess, I just expected more out of the five opportunities they got with the man advantage.

7. Why can’t the Oilers score on empty nets? It’s weird how much they struggle to drain them, no?

8. All I wanted for Christmas was the streak to get extended and for the boys to win more faceoffs than they lost. Unfortunately, I must have been on the naughty list or something because Edmonton managed to only win 39.6% of the draws. Painful for Baggedmilk.

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