What a way to cap off the homestand.

On Thursday evening, the Edmonton Oilers played their fifth and final game of the homestand, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 to move to 14-11-6 this season. With the win, the Oilers remain in a playoff position.

The first 10 minutes of the opening flew by with very little action. With just under seven minutes left in the period, the Red Wings took a penalty, and on the ensuing power play, the Oilers got on the board.

Leon Draisaitl hit Connor McDavid with a pass in the slot, and the Oiler captain outwaited Cam Talbot, passing it to a cutting Zach Hyman who had a gaping net.

Entering the second period up one, the Oilers extended their lead about three minutes into the middle frame. On a zone entry, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins dropped it to McDavid, who passed back to Mattias Ekholm. The left-shot defenceman blasted it past Talbot for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

About three minutes later, the Red Wings cut the Oilers lead in half. Defending a three on two, Darnell Nurse clipped Alec Regula and lost an edge. That led to some chaos, and Nate Danielson got it over to a jumping and trailing Simon Edvinsson, with the defenceman tucking it to make it 2-1.

The Oilers got an insurance goal late in the second period after some sustained pressure in the Red Wing’s zone. Darnell Nurse’s shot from an odd angle missed the net, but ended up going to McDavid behind the net. The Oilers captain dropped the puck and passed the puck between his legs to Zach Hyman, who ripped home his second of the game.

It took four attempts, but the Oilers finally scored on the open net late in the third period. Hyman’s initial shot was blocked, then he hit the side of the net. The Oilers changed, then Vasily Podkolzin scored an ODR goal, ripping it off the cross bar. Hyman got a third opportunity, with the winger potting it to the back of the net to make it 4-1.

The Oilers are really starting to play better. Their lone regulation loss in the five-game homestand is a game in which they got goalie’d by Jesper Wallstedt in a 1-0 loss. They didn’t look great in their 4-3 overtime loss on Tuesday to the Buffalo Sabres, but at least got a point out of it with a strong third period. Overall, they finished with a 3-1-1 record in these five games.

That was the Oilers’ sixth regulation on home ice, and just their third regulation win on home ice wearing their usual home jerseys. Yes, they have won all three games in regulation when they’ve worn the cream-coloured jerseys.

Although the Red Wings were on the second-game of a back-to-back, this was a pretty even game. The Oilers finished with 21 scoring chances to the Wings’ 27 scoring chances, but had 10 high-danger scoring chances to the Wings’ nine.

Stuart Skinner had a strong night, stopping 27 of 28 shots for a .964 save percentage. He made a flurry of big saves late in the first period while the Wings were on the power play. The Oilers’ netminder has had a strong last few games.

He wasn’t their top star, though, as that honour belonged to Connor McDavid. The Oilers’ captain picked up an assist on all four goals, all of which were primary assists. Zach Hyman scored three of them, scoring his sixth career hat trick in both regular season and postseason action.

The end of a homestand means the beginning of a road trip, which isn’t particularly great for the Oilers as they are 6-8-3 on the road as opposed to 8-3-3 at Rogers Place. It’s another Eastern Conference road trip as well, as they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montréal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, and Minnesota Wild.

Their first game is a matchup against the Maple Leafs at 5:00 PM MT on Saturday.