Well, Edmonton Oilers fans probably didn't love the outcome of Thursday evening's matchup against the Utah Mammoth. That franchise was so bad for so long that many of us saw the scheduled games against the team we used to call the Arizona Coyotes as free standings points. That's not the case anymore, and the really interesting part of that fact is that several key players on the Mammoth were there in Arizona as well. But today they're surrounded by depth, with owownership that isn't constantly searching for loopholes to hit the salary cap floor, and it shows.
The Mammoth beat the Oilers at their own game, in their own rink. They converted on two powerplays and their penalty kill stopped the Oilers from doing the same. That special teams strength has been a theme for the Mammoth this season, and it's an area the Oilers need to tighten up. But as the article title says, the game wasn't all bad news, even if it ended with a regulation loss.
Shot differential
The Oilers reversed a trend of being outshot that had stretched a couple games. After easily outshooting the Vancouver Canucks, the Oilers let the Anaheim Ducks and LA Kings heavily outshoot them in their victories, and the Seattle Kraken were well up on the shot clock until the Oilers got their sticks moving in the third period.
Against the Mammoth, who consistently have been shooting the puck this season, the Oilers were right there with them, ending the game tied with 24 shots a piece. That's both above the average the Mammoth allow, and looks like the Oilers' defensive system was able to limit chances to a degree, because the Mammoth have been averaging over 30. And even if the goals for and against weren't in Edmonton's favor, you can't win every game, but the ingredients for a victory were there.
Faceoffs, Hits, Giveaways
The Oilers also ended the game up in a number of other categories. Their faceoff dominance continued, with Edmonton winning well above half their draws. That has been a theme, and the Oilers are top 5 in the National Hockey League with 53.5% of faceoffs going their way.
They also outhit the Mammoth, who have been a highly physical squad in 2026-27. The Oilers haven't been slouches either, ranked ninth in hits for the year, and it's nice to see that when they come up against another physical squad, they don't back down. More than once in the game, there was a scrum or scuffle and it seems clear that the Oilers aren't going to back down from anyone this season. In particular, Mattias Ekholm seemed ready to drop the gloves after a suspect hit on Leon Draisaitl in the late second period.
Again in spite of what some might assume from the final score, the Oilers were a proactive club when it came to takeaways and giveaways. They were relatively clean when possessing the puck, and they had fast sticks, stealing it away eight times over the course of the game, while only giving the puck away three times.
A loss is still a loss, but with a healthier roster in their upcoming future, the Oilers are still looking good, just so long as one loss doesn't become several in a row.
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