Oilers Want To Win The Division

The Edmonton Oilers closed the gap between themselves and the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks. They are ramping it up as the NHL inches closer to the playoffs. After two consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup final ending in failure, the Oilers have unfinished business.

Connor McDavid registered a goal and two assists. Those three points help him to regain the NHL scoring lead (124 points). With the 4-2 over Anaheim on Saturday, Edmonton moves to within three points of the division-leading Ducks.

“For the first 50 minutes it was as good as we’ve played all season,” said Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Nothing too fancy, maybe we’d like to have gotten a goal on the power play if I’m being a bit negative. Five-on-five, the penalty kill was really good. Until we scored the third goal, they were playing desperately and made a strong push.”

Zach Hyman registered a goal and an assist. Jack Roslovic and rookie forward Matthew Savoie scored the Oilers other two goals. Edmonton is in a three-game winning streak and improve its record to 37-28-9. Savoie has registered a goal in three consecutive games. He has 13 points in his last 16 games. The rookie has earned time on the power play and penalty kill. He is also enjoying time on the top line with McDavid.

“My confidence is definitely high right now,” Savoie said. “It helps seeing the puck go in, and I’m getting lots of opportunities right now with some pretty good players, obviously.”

Oilers Playing Well Despite Loss of Draisaitl

The Oilers are an impressive 27-5-5 when scoring first this season. Their current success is happening without star forward Leon Draisaitl. He is out for the remainder of the regular season with a lower-body injury. Though some think he might be back before the playoffs.

Connor Ingram made 27 saves to earn the win in the Edmonton net. Defenseman Evan Bouchard registered a pair of assists to extend his points streak against the Ducks to 11 games. He leads all NHL defensemen with 86 points. The 26-year-old is about to become the 13th defenseman in NHL history to hit the 90-point plateau.

McDavid has scored in four consecutive games and leads the NHL with 31 goals since December 1st. The Oilers captain is now three points ahead of Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL scoring lead. As Edmonton tries to capture the division lead, they’ve done a great job at home against divisional rivals with an 8-0-2 record.