The Edmonton Oilers head into their third week of regular-season play carrying an unusual distinction: after the Florida Panthers’ 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, they’re the last team in the NHL without a defeat in 60 minutes.
That puts Edmonton in position to match a notable early-season run. Last year, the Avalanche went eight games without a regulation loss before the Boston Bruins stopped that streak with a 3-2 win in Colorado’s ninth game. The Oilers now have three games on tap this week, giving them a shot to get to that same neighborhood.
The schedule begins Tuesday with a visit from the Los Angeles Kings, the first meeting between the teams this season. Edmonton went 1-1-1 against Los Angeles last year, with its lone win coming in an 8-1 rout.
From there, the Oilers move into their second home-and-home of the season against the Utah Mammoth. Edmonton hosts the first leg on Thursday before the series shifts to Salt Lake City on Saturday. The Oilers’ only win against the Mammoth last season was a 5-2 road victory in late March.
Week 2 gave Edmonton plenty to build on. The Oilers opened their two-game slate with a meeting against the Anaheim Ducks, and after falling behind 2-0 in the first period, they flipped the game with a five-goal second period to grab another two points against a division opponent. They finished the week with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks, surviving a determined push sparked by Macklin Celebrini’s return to the lineup.
This week, the focus turns back to the crease. Goaltending was already a major issue in Edmonton’s opening three-game stretch, and it looks ready to be front and center again as the Oilers try to extend a mostly positive start to the season.
That’s especially true against Utah. The Mammoth have been all over the place offensively, scoring at least four goals in four of their first six games. They beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-0 and the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 to start 2-0-0, then topped the New Jersey Devils 5-3 in a higher-scoring game and most recently handled the Buffalo Sabres 4-1.
But the other side of that profile is just as obvious. Utah has also coughed up a lot of goals, allowing at least three in three of its last four games. That stretch included a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers and a 6-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, in addition to the Devils game.
For Edmonton, that sets up the home-and-home as a chance to keep Devon Levi and Tristan Jarry trending in the right direction. Even with encouraging showings against the Kraken and Ducks in mind, the Oilers still don’t have enough evidence to call their goaltending issues solved. The same logic applies to Jarry, even after he helped Edmonton secure its fourth straight victory; the rough season opener still hangs over the picture.
The Kings bring a different test. Los Angeles stumbled out of the gate defensively, losing 8-4 to the Colorado Avalanche and 5-4 to the San Jose Sharks. Since then, the results have tightened up: the Kings lost 2-1 to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and picked up an overtime point against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday despite still searching for their first win through four games.
Darcy Kuemper has been a steady presence behind them, starting the Kings’ last two games and posting a .930 save percentage in both. That only raises the bar for Edmonton’s own goaltending, though Levi and Jarry both turned in solid work last week, giving the Oilers some stability behind their skaters.
At minimum, a 2-1-0 week looks within reach. Edmonton could get goalie’d at least once, but it has the tools to do the same in return.
The Kings and Mammoth have both shown a tendency to allow goals in bunches, which leaves room for optimism even if things get messy in net. Still, the Oilers can’t take anything for granted there, especially after the Vancouver Canucks made two high-scoring games competitive to open the season.
If Edmonton keeps getting the kind of goaltending it saw last week, another strong week is there for the taking.
In Other News...
Oilers Start Is Raising One Big Lineup Question
The Oilers kept their strong start rolling with a win over the Sharks, moving to 4-0-1 and giving their early-season lineup decisions a little more weight. With Zach Hyman nearing a return, Edmonton is getting close to having another important forward back in the mix, which always changes the conversation around ice time, line combinations and who gets squeezed when everyone is healthy.
One player who may have helped his case is rookie Owen Michaels, who saw a larger role and made the most of his night in the faceoff circle. For a team trying to balance momentum with the realities of a crowded roster, those are the kinds of small developments that can turn into a much bigger question before long. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Suddenly Face A Tough Call On A Possible Flyers Deal
Philadelphias slow start has only added fuel to the trade chatter, and around the league it has naturally pushed the Flyers into the conversation as a possible source of help for Edmonton. The Oilers are always watching for ways to improve, but this is one of those situations where the idea is easier to float than to execute, especially with the club already having to account for the cap and the pieces it would take to make a move work.
For Edmonton, the appeal is obvious enough: a winger from a struggling roster can look like a fit on paper when a contender is looking for an upgrade. But the Oilers also have to balance urgency against timing, because roster decisions do not happen in a vacuum, and any serious trade discussion would have to clear more than one hurdle before it ever became real. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Hot Start Comes With One Risk Fans Cant Ignore
The early returns have been encouraging in Edmonton, where the Oilers have opened 4-0-1 and leaned hard on their best defensemen to get there. The top four is taking on a bigger workload than it did last season, with each regular logging more than 21 minutes a night, and that heavier deployment has helped stabilize a team that has looked sharp out of the gate.
Edmontons blue line, though, is also showing the kind of imbalance that can become harder to manage as the schedule wears on. The third pair is seeing far less ice time than it did a year ago, which helps explain how the top group is carrying so much of the load, but it also raises the question of how long that approach can hold up before fatigue becomes part of the story. [Read more 🡒]