Awaiting the Edmonton Oilers this week was a slate consisting of three home games against Stanley Cup contenders.
They earned a massive win to open that slate on Tuesday, defeating the Minnesota Wild in overtime by a 4-3 scoreline. While Minnesota ended up closing the 3-1 lead that Edmonton built in the second period, Evan Bouchard was able to cap off the contest - and his 27th birthday - with the game-winning goal from the left face-off circle. The game also saw goaltender Devon Levi bounce back from his previous outing against the Utah Mammoth and record a .900 save percentage on 30 total shots faced.
To extend it to the bigger picture, the win saw Edmonton improve their record to 7-1-1, which matches their nine-game start from the 2019-20 season but falls just one point short of their 8-1-0 opening to the 2021-22 season.
But let's bring it back to the team's performance.
So ... how about those scoring chances?
I'm aware that I'm harping on this quite often.
But unlike the last few games, this game represented more of a mixed bag than a major concern.
On the bad side, can we maybe convert some deep-in-their-own-end chances? We've got Wild defensemen passing back to their own goalies for ... whatever reason; Wallstedt's unawareness of what was happening led to the puck deflecting back towards Alex Formenton. There was also an attempt by Minnesota to clear the puck ... right to the Oilers' forwards.
The bad news for Edmonton was that both golden scoring opportunities ended up being saved by Wallstedt.
Formenton had another chance to get the Oilers on the board, almost stealing the puck and getting a clear lane up the ice.
For Minnesota, it was a story of mission failed successfully. For Edmonton, it could have easily been 3-1 to end the first period.
Given that the Wild eventually drew level at 3-3, those chances easily represented an opportunity to earn significant leverage early in a game against a very capable opponent.
But at that point, it was small potatoes. The Oilers made up for the botched chances late in the first period; Leon Draisaitl helped the team convert a five-on-three power play opportunity to level the score and give the Oilers the first 90 seconds of the second period to try and take the lead with the numerical advantage.
There were plenty more scoring chances that the Oilers couldn't convert, including a second-period chance that forced Wallstedt to make a very last-second pass across his own goaltending crease to keep Vasily Podkolzin from converting a breakaway. Â
Again, the scoring chances have proven to be game-changers, many of which have not gone Edmonton's way in recent times. But we can't deny that there hasn't been an improvement in that regard.
The Oilers played Minnesota's game at times ... and it worked out quite well
Minnesota is the kind of team that can punish you physically and make you try to outskate them in terms of the scoreboard and the skating.
It's never a good idea to let your opponents play their style of game, but the Oilers did just that. And it didn't entirely backfire hilariously and/or miserably?
After the Oilers took a 2-1 lead early in the second, the Wild managed to create significant pressure in the Oilers' end; they found ways to win board battles and generate chances. What undid their ability to use their physicality as a means to create offense was another penalty, this one conceded by Ryan Hartman for tripping Bouchard. The Oilers converted the ensuing power play, with the highly-effective Joseph-Formenton-Michaels line giving Edmonton a two-goal lead.
At the same time, Edmonton did quite well to not take the bait on Minnesota's attempt to use their physicality and skating to gain a foothold in the contest. Connor Murphy's penalty might suggest otherwise, but Hartman's attempts to get a fight out of Jake Walman and other Oilers failed quite miserably.
Concern for Isaac Howard and Colton Dach?
Friends, it's trade season already.
The Oilers already got in on the fun, and Dylan Larkin is finally expanding his list of trade destinations. Much to the chagrin of Montreal Canadiens fans.
But the Oilers' past involvement might not seem to be the only time they could be implicated in trade action. Isaac Howard's start to the season, which has seen him record just two points in eight games, is doing more than enough to land him in trade rumors.
The same doesn't necessarily go for Dach, who was only dealt to the Oilers last year as part of the Jason Dickinson trade. But he doesn't exactly have any ground to stand on, having failed to record a point in his first four games of the campaign.
While both forwards created multiple scoring chances against Minnesota, their middle-to-bottom-six counterparts are already leagues ahead in terms of points. The likes of Mathieu Joseph and Owen Michaels only pulled further ahead in that race on Tuesday, and that could easily raise a roster-focused talking point that takes over Edmonton's sports circles this week.
The ability to get the puck towards the net is one thing, but Dach and Howard could soon find themselves getting demoted or even traded if they can't get points on the board. That becomes especially true when considering that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is set to take the ice for the first time this year against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes.
Oilers active on the penalty kill
The Wild entered Tuesday as one of three teams with a power play percentage above 30%.
The Oilers made that power play look less like a top-three unit and more like the Calgary Flames. I'm aware that the Flames entered Tuesday with a 21.1% power play percentage.
The Wild had three power play opportunities to work with, which included a five-on-three. They converted none of them.
Given that the Oilers held the Mammoth's top-ranked power play without a goal during that situation on Saturday, it's safe to assume that the Oilers' penalty-killing is enjoying a good run of form right now.
If the Oilers can keep the Hurricanes' power play, which entered Tuesday's action with 25.6% efficiency, from doing much on Thursday, they will truly have an impressive three-game run of results to work from.
Quick note
Levi's full-orange goaltender pads?
They. Looked. Awesome.
It might just have been a pair of leg pads, but the full-orange on the Oilers' blue home kits yielded a pretty clean look.
What's next?
The Oilers will remain in Edmonton for a tilt with the Hurricanes, one that serves as an early litmus test for how they stack up against Eastern Conference contenders. Puck drop is set for 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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