After winning five of their last six games, the Edmonton Oilers (15-10-2) will conclude a three-game homestand at Rogers Place on Tuesday night when the hockey club takes on a tough Tampa Bay Lightning (14-9-2) roster.
“Tampa’s a great team,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said after practice on Monday. “They’re going to take all of our attention.”
Just like the Oilers, the Lightning have found a winning groove lately. Both NHL teams are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. In that time frame, the Oilers have scored a solid 3.5 goals per game but the Lightning are finding the net at an even more impressive rate at 4.5 goals per game.
“We like how we’re playing,” McDavid said. “We’re finding ways to score some goals.
“Special teams are starting to go. Goalies are making saves — it’s all positive stuff.”
Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm also spoke about the Oilers’ improved play lately.
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“We’re starting to find the way we want to play,” he said.
One of the improvements helping Edmonton as of late is its penalty kill. Since Nov. 12, the Oilers have killed off 92.3 per cent of their penalties, a rate higher than any other team in the league in that time span.
The Oilers’ last game was a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night, the team’s second-straight victory.
That same night, the Lightning saw superstar forward Nikita Kucherov return after an injury kept him out of the lineup for a couple of games — he scored a goal and added two assists in Tampa’s 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
–with a file from The Associated Press
Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid (97) gets his stick around Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, in Tampa, Fla.
AP Photo/Chris O’Meara