Hot Oilers prepare for parade of fellow NHL titans

From left, Edmonton Oilers players Connor McDavid, Mattias Ekholm, Zach Hyman, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard celebrate a goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 5, 2024. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

Here come the heavyweights.

The Edmonton Oilers are heavyweights themselves, of course, boasting a National Hockey League roster headlined by superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl that went to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final in June.

But the upcoming schedule features four other NHL giants in a row, starting Tuesday (7 p.m) at Rogers Place against the recent two-time Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. That game is followed by a road date Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, the league's top team, a Saturday afternoon home affair with the rival and top Pacific Division team Vegas Golden Knights (a year removed as Cup champ) and a highly anticipated rematch of June's final versus the Florida Panthers one week from now.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told media after practice Monday that these games should give the Oilers a good idea how they compare to other top teams – especially considering Edmonton has been "gaining momentum, winning games," and getting good goaltending and better special-teams play – but that he doesn't think the team should look too far ahead.

"Is it something we should get excited about and play, and is this going to be a match up to test really where we are? A little bit, but I think the most important thing is, if you look in the future, it's getting ready for that next game," Knoblauch said.

"Any time you have a lot of tough games, it's good to see where you stack up against the league's best."

Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm echoed his coach's don't-look-too-far-ahead sentiment but said an incentive to matching up with other league powerhouses is the opportunity to gain even more momentum.

"As a team, we want to make a statement every once in a while throughout the season and beat a really good team," Ekholm said. "We know we have a bunch of them coming in our barn here in the next two weeks, so that'll give you a little extra confidence maybe, but at the end of the day, two points is two points against St. Louis and Columbus, and there'll be two points again tomorrow, so you can't really look at it too much either.

"This time of year, you've just got to collect points when you can, especially on home ice. We know the importance of the games, whether it's Tampa or Columbus."

The Oilers have enjoyed a recent renaissance of sorts since the start of November, going 10-5-1, after starting the season on a jag and going .500 in October – not exactly the start many expected after a deep playoff run.

Still, Ekholm said teams can develop resiliency when dealing with hardship, something the Oilers experienced last season when they had a poor start. He also took note of the strong start – followed by a cooling-off period – this campaign by the Winnipeg Jets, who ran their record to 15-1 by mid-November before suffering a swoon to sit with a (still strong) 20-9 record heading into Monday's games.

"Last year taught me that, knowing that when you do get to the Aprils and the Mays, you can lean on that experience, having early-on adversity," Ekholm said.

"You look at Winnipeg, too, when you start that hot and at the beginning of the year, especially. I don't think I've ever done that, so I can't really speak from experience here, but I can imagine that you feel pretty good about yourself. Maybe that some of those details can get lost in translation after that 12th, 13th, 14th win, and then you've got to go back to your roots again and try to find those.

"When you go through adversity, you've got to look at it as an opportunity to build your game and to build your team."

Heading into Tuesday's game, they've gone 5-1 over the last two-and-a-half weeks – 5-2 if you include a loss to the Wild on Nov. 21. Their other loss in the recent stretch came to the Golden Knights in a tight 1-0 game in Las Vegas.

Star captain McDavid said Monday the Oilers have been able to straighten out their performance as players embrace multiple roles.

"We can put five different guys on the power play, four different guys on the penalty kill if, individually, guys aren't doing what they need to be doing," McDavid said.

"It's not going to have success teamwise the same way. Guys have to take care of what they can take care of, and that's ultimately their own play, and if we get enough guys doing that, the team usually has success."