Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Photo via NHLI/Getty Images

Brett Kulak is on pace for a 21 goal season. I just thought that was a fun thing to say.

The way the second period ended brought flashbacks of last year’s second round, when the Oilers had a 3-0 nothing lead in the third period of Game 7 against the Canucks and nearly blew it. On Saturday night, they would go up 3-0 in the second period this time. Vancouver would cut the lead to just 1 goal, like they did a season ago. But then Edmonton exploded with 4 goals in the third period and that was all she wrote. In a 7 goal excursion, there were 8 points tallied by our team’s bottom six. It was nice to finally see them have a game that big. They won’t equal that much all the time, but even a quarter of that on a nightly basis would be most welcome. The man advantage is slowly, but surely, coming along. The first goal was just a couple of seconds away from counting as a powerplay goal. What mattered was they built momentum off of it, leading to a go-ahead goal. Just get that penalty kill up and running, and then they’ll really be in business.

Just like their opponents tonight, the Oilers are one win away from placing themselves in a Wild Card spot. Their back at Rogers Place for two games, and then head out to Eastern Canada for half a week. The keys to the game are…

Long Island Hurtin’: The Islanders have Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech, Anthony Duclair, Mike Reilly, and Alexander Romanov all on Injured Reserve. Their Twitter page tweeted that Romanov skated with his team in practice, so maybe he will jump back into their lineup. But take advantage of a broken-down roster.

Calm: When Saturday’s game was out of reach for the Canucks, they scored in the final minute on a PP. There was a mistake made by Edmonton in front of their net and Stuart Skinner was dissatisfied. It meant that Skinner’s save percentage in the game wasn’t .900, but that one moment was still a turnoff for me. Don’t worry about the individual stats. Just play the game and try to collect the W.

Anniversary: It was officially a year ago today that Kris Knoblauch and Paul Coffey took over behind the bench for Edmonton. Coincidentally, their first games as Oilers bench boss were also against the New York Islanders. They wouldn’t mind a nice anniversary gift on the ice tonight.

ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing Inside The Rink

Join Conrad and Chris as the discuss Gavin McKenna making the jump to the NCAA, Pittsburgh and San Jose making additions, and the NHL season to begin on October 7, 2025.
  1. ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing
  2. ITR 46: Offseason Chaos
  3. ITR 45: Everything Is Happening
  4. ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again
  5. ITR 43: It's Winning Time


Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Stephen Vani

Oilers fan in Toronto. Staying up past my bedtime for Western games since the mid 2000s.

Leave a Reply

NHL Game Preview: Montreal Canadiens at Detroit Red Wings with Line Combinations 12/21/2024

Opinion: The Red Wings are Closer than You Think

By the time it was over, the 2023-24 season gave little hope to Red Wings fans. Montreal, Columbus and Ottawa all passed them in points this season, both Ottawa and Montreal broke the playoff barrier and ended their droughts. Fans and media alike deemed this offseason as one where the Red Wings needed to make […]

Read More
Ben Scrivens of the Edmonton Oilers

Ghosts Of Oilers Past: Ben Scrivens

With goaltending becoming a more humongous topic among Oilers fans than it already was prior to this season, why not have some fun and reminisce about one of the very few good highlights during the Decade of Darkness? The most historic performance by a goalie in the regular season happened on a team that, at […]

Read More
Utah Mammoth

Utah Mammoth 2025-26 Games To Watch

Year two of the Utah hockey experience begins in mere months, and the schedule is full of games from Central Division faceoffs to meetings with back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions and even rebuilding Eastern Conference contenders. NOV. 12th – vs Buffalo Sabres Easily able to be described as the biggest offseason move General Manager Bill Armstrong […]

Read More