Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Edmonton Oilers Play La Bamba Flag
Photo: Kevin Neufeld | Inside The Rink

They won, that’s all that matters. They won.

Tuesday night’s game had no business going to overtime. Edmonton made it a two goal game in the third period against a team riddled with injuries, and then they just couldn’t buy a save. The first Islanders goal was a nice shot, I don’t blame Stuart Skinner for that. But his lateral movement on most goals against is so slow, particularly the second one he allowed. Ilya Sorokin may’ve been the losing goalie, but he stopped the shots you’d expect him to stop. I’m not just saying that because he usually plays well against our team. Maybe the collapse was karma for Connor McDavid not getting called for a tripping penalty before scoring the third goal? That’s the excuse I’ll go with.

So tonight is the last game of the season against a team the Oilers have historically kept collecting wins from in the last decade. So, hopefully, I won’t really have a complaint like in this piece. The keys to the game are…

They Can’t Slump Forever: It’s still mindboggling how a team like Nashville, that had a really good offseason, and has a really good team, can be dead last in the entire NHL. Normally when a team has the best penalty kill, they’re winning more than losing. Edmonton has an eyerolling track record of playing down to the level of their opponents. Treat this opponent the same as every other, don’t take periods off.

Captain Pickard x3: Calvin Pickard is in net against the Predators for the third and final time. He’s won two straight against them, so why not? Can he really outduel Juuse Saros three times?

Mr. 1000?: McDavid is only 27 years old and needs just a single point to reach 1000 in his NHL career. That’s the #1 vibe from the fans, players, and media heading into tonight. But don’t lose sight of the tasks at hand. If a scoring chance develops, don’t let it go to waste because you were trying too hard to set him up even for an assist. He’ll get that point when the time comes. But if you get too excited, you might make mistakes and go down a goal or two.

ITR 39: Conference Finals Inside The Rink

Join Conrad and Chris as they wrap up the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and look ahead to the Conference Finals between Edmonton & Dallas and Carolina & Florida.
  1. ITR 39: Conference Finals
  2. ITR 38: Quenneville is a Duck
  3. ITR 37: Round Two
  4. ITR 36: Coaching Carousel
  5. ITR 35: Round One

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

Porter Martone 2025 Draft Profile

2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Porter Martone

The Scouting Report: Porter Martone of Peterborough, ON, is one of the prominent players available in the 2025 NHL Draft and is projected to be a top-five selection. Martone has been in the conversation for the first overall pick at different times this season, and with 37 goals and 98 points in 57 games with […]

Read More
NHL Playoff Preview: Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes with Line Combinations 5/28/2025

NHL Playoff Preview: Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes with Line Combinations 5/28/2025

NHL Playoff Preview: Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes with Line Combinations 5/28/2025

Read More

Edmonton Oilers Playoff Thoughts: Round 3, Game 4

Over the last few years, it’s been a running joke for Edmonton Oilers fans that an afternoon game is always a guaranteed loss for the team. A 6-1 victory is certainly no joke, however. At the same time, people were perplexed that the NHL would give a Conference Final game a 1 pm Mountain Time/3 […]

Read More