It was nice of the Edmonton Oilers to stop by for a brief visit.
With just one game in Rogers Place in a 17-day span, it’s important to renew acquaintances with the locals. An entire city’s worth of unofficial head coaches and general managers needs to see the product in person, after all.
But there’s no time to get comfortable. In fact, this stretch of the schedule is as uncomfortable as it gets for the road-weary Oilers. Eight games in eight different cities in 15 days, culminating in three hard games in four nights, might just be the toughest test of their season.
They’re making themselves quite at home, though, even if it seems like they’ve been on the road forever.
Despite having to zig-zag back and across the continent (what kind of trip starts in the Pacific time zone, moves to Eastern, then Central, then Mountain, then Central again and wraps back in Pacific?) they’re 4-1 so far with two impressive shutout wins over Boston and Los Angeles.
“It’s been a long road trip and we’ve seen a lot of good hockey teams,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “And it continues on right until the end when we finish off in Vancouver.”
Finding a way
They haven’t all been pretty. You can see it catching up with the Oilers a little — they lost to Pittsburgh, started slowly and fell behind in Chicago and were outshot 10-2 in the first 10 minutes and 14-7 in the first period against Los Angeles.
But they’re grinding it out and finding a way, riding clutch goals and key saves to add another statement to their 2024-25 regular season resume.
“I think it’s been some tough travel for us, but the way we played with the kind of schedule we’ve had is quite impressive,” said Stuart Skinner, who posted a 31-save shutout against the Kings Monday, helping the Oilers survive their sluggish first period.
“Once we got our legs about 14-15 minutes into the first, we just kind of turned it on and hemmed them in for a lot of the night.”
And it only gets harder from here. After a one-game stop in Edmonton to host the Kings, the Oilers are back on the road to wrap things up with three games in four nights in Minnesota, Colorado and Vancouver. Counting the Kings on Monday, it’s four games in six nights in four different cities.
“We have three good teams coming up,” said Leon Draisaitl. “The schedule has been tight, lots of games, lots of travel. You have to find a way to win those games. It starts with Minny, try and get two points there.”
This is the second big measuring stick stretch of the season for Edmonton. They aced the last one, too, going 4-1 against Tampa, Minnesota, Vegas, Florida and Boston in a 10-day test in December.
This is the kind of stuff that tempers a hockey team, builds calluses and confidence. The old adage about what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger applies here.
The toughest part is yet to come, though, and the gas tank has to be running a little low. But this is where they need to dig deep and close the deal. They can’t let 4-1 slide into 5-3 or worse.
Nobody knows the vibe and the energy level of the room than the guys inside it and Connor McDavid remains pretty certain the Oilers will be able to maintain their current pace.
“It’s been a busy stretch here, a lot of travelling around, a quick little pit stop here and back out on the road. A big couple of games coming up. I like how we’re playing. We’ll be fine.”
Lights out after a loss
Skinner’s numbers this season are gaining significant momentum — winning nine of your last 12 games is always good for the stats.
But his totals when coming off a loss are ridiculous.
He hasn’t lost two games in a row since Oct. 22 and in that time is 9-0 with a .945 save percentage and 1.56 goals against average.
Being able to move past a night that didn’t go your way is the biggest tool in a goalie’s mental toolbox and Skinner has amnesia when it comes to losses.
“It comes from a lot of things,” said Skinner, quick to point out that the Oilers also pick things up as a team after they lose a game.
“First of all, it’s how the team plays after games like that, as well. But for myself, personally, I’ve gone through a lot of experiences that have helped me get more resilient as the years go on.
“After games like that you always want to come back and really bring it and show the guys that you can bounce back. I think that’s an extremely important thing for a goalie to be able to do.”
E-mail: [email protected]