The Edmonton Oilers defeated the St. Louis Blues in the second-half of a back-to-back on Sunday night. It is tough to follow-up a 6-0 victory against the Vancouver Canucks but the Oilers did just that, putting together another excellent performance less than 24 hours later.
It is even more sweet with the return of former Oilers forward Dylan Holloway to the Blues lineup, after the Oilers lost him and teammate Philip Broberg in 2024 as both signed offer sheets to leave the club that drafted them.
It was a full 60-minute effort that saw the Oilers score in each period and receive contributions from up and down their lineup.
Team has stepped up in wake of Draisaitl absence
The club announced on Saturday that star forward Leon Draisaitl was taking a leave of absence from the Oilers, to attend to a family health issue back home in Germany. Everybody wishes the forward and his family well.
#Oilers statement re: Leon Draisaitl https://t.co/FgGcC8Pd2s
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 17, 2026
It is nice to see the team rally together at this time and be able to overcome an obstacle like losing such an important player. As Kasperi Kapanen said after Saturday night's win "Everybody's stepping up... We miss Leo and we wish him the best,"
The club has scored 11 goals over their past two games and has given up zero goals against, stepping up is an understatement.
Depth has been improving
As the Oilers welcomed the return of multiple key players this month with the recent play of their rookies, including the recall of Isaac Howard and with many players coming off the injured list, the team has seen a big boost from their depth in recent weeks.
Forwards Kapanen and Jack Roslovic recently returned from injury, bringing with them another influx of scoring with Kapanen producing at an incredible clip of seven points (three goals, four assists) in eight games. On top of the returns from injury, Russian winger Vasily Podkolzin is in the midst of the best season of his NHL career.
In this game as well, the Oilers saw goals from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Andrew Mangiapane, and Podkolzin. Although not all are playing on the third or fourth line, seeing contributions from players other than Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard helps immensely.
Oilers tandem should be set
Following a shutout performance by the presumed starting goaltender, newly acquired Tristan Jarry, Connor Ingram was phenomenal.
Ingram has shown a lot of promise as an NHL backstopper since being recalled from the Bakersfield Condors in the American Hockey League. His play should have earned him a permanent role with the Oilers.
Currently, the Oilers are rolling with three goalies on their NHL roster but with the standout performances of Jarry and Ingram, Calvin Pickard should be the odd man out. The Oilers management and coaching staff have to know they should keep Jarry and Ingram as their main tandem for the forseeable future at least.