EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers have been looking for a confidence boost and Tuesday’s 7-1 victory over the Utah Hockey Club certainly fit the bill.
Zach Hyman had two goals and an assist and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm all had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers extended their NHL win streak to three in a row in convincing fashion.
Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson also scored for the Oilers (40-24-4) who moved three points up on the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch feels the team is starting to head in the right direction, again.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself too early,” he said. “We had a great game, we outscored a team, we won three in a row, but it’s been better. Certainly, when you look after the break we were rock bottom, we played terrible, we were getting outplayed tremendously.
"And after those first three, maybe four games we’ve been getting better and better throughout that, and it started with our team defence and eliminating chances off the rush. And then once you play better defensively, things will work better offensively and we saw that tonight. We were backchecking, creating turnovers, countering.
"So, we’ve been getting better over these last couple weeks but certainly more room to grow.”
Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse agreed that his team is starting to feel a little looser.
“Our game is definitely coming and our group, as we continue to play with some new faces and continue to jell, our team game is going to continue to grow," he said. “Obviously, you want to head into the end of the season playing your best hockey and I think we are starting to get there.”
Nugent-Hopkins was moved off of McDavid’s top line to centre the third line and it seems to have sparked his game as he now has six points in his last two outings.
“The game can be funny sometimes,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “You do all the right things and nothing shows up on the scoresheet and sometimes you get some bounces and they go in for you. I’m just trying to play the same way and trying to help out however I can.”
Hyman returned from a one-game injury absence, while Ekholm was back after missing the last six.
Usual backup goalie Calvin Pickard made 29 stops to collect the win in net for the Oilers, improving his record to an impressive 17-7-0.
Despite their offensive explosion, Leon Draisaitl was kept off the scoresheet, ending his points streak at a career-high 18 games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2025.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
