Last week wasn’t exactly the easiest for the Edmonton Oilers.

They were coming off back-to-back losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, and had a schedule that featured the likes of the Winnipeg Jets and LA Kings, as well as the lowly Anahim Ducks.

But boy, did the Oilers ever respond well, beating all three of those teams, outscoring them 14-5 in the process. Talk about making a statement.

Thanks to the week that was, the Oilers have made some forward progress in power rankings.

Daily Faceoff rankings

8. Edmonton Oilers

Record: 45-23-4, +56
Last Week: 9th (+1)
Mike’s Rank: 9th
Scott’s Rank: 8th

Scott: The Oilers seemed to take their struggles in Ontario to heart, as they responded with three straight wins last week over the Jets, Kings and Ducks, and up until the Canucks’ win on Sunday, they were starting to join the race for the Pacific Division title as well. The two still have one more game against each other on April 13th, so depending on how these next two weeks leading up to that game go, that could end up being a big matchup for both teams.

Sportlogiq rankings

The Edmonton Oilers regain the top spot amongst Canadian teams by holding on to fourth spot on our list. The Oilers went 3-0 last week with wins over the Jets, Kings and Ducks.

Connor McDavid continues his push up the scoring leaders list, just two points back of Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead. The Oilers have 10 games remaining as McDavid also sits four assists shy of 100 for the season. McDavid will become the first player to reach the milestone since Wayne Gretzky put up 122 assists with the Kings in 1990-91.

Dropping two spots on our list from third to fifth are the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Ducks Sunday night. Injured goalie Thatcher Demko will be eligible to return to the lineup on April 6 as the Canucks look to hold on to first place in the Pacific Division. Vancouver has a six-point lead on the Oilers, but Edmonton has won three straight games and has two games in hand.

Lindros says Gauthier trade request should’ve stayed in house

If there’s one person who knows a thing or two about trade requests, it’s Eric Lindros.

He famously asked out of Quebec after being drafted 1st overall by the Nordiques in the 1991 draft, subsequently getting sent to the Philadelphia Flyers.

And if it were up to him, he would’ve handled things differently.

“I would have focused on just saying, ‘We wanted Jamie Drysdale and we had to give up this player,’ ” said Lindros in an interview with The Hockey News. “That’s how I would have dealt with it. I wouldn’t have publicized the situation. I would have just traded the kid.

“Think about how it was handled. It’s like going to the bar when you’re younger and you ask a girl out. If she says, ‘No,’ you don’t go to your buddies and say ‘She shut me down.’ You know what I mean?

“(The Flyers should) accentuate that you got a player you coveted. But you don’t mention the guy who didn’t want to go to your team.”

Gauthier, 20, was traded by the Flyers to the Anaheim Ducks in January in exchange for defenceman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick, and the organization was quick to note how he didn’t want to play for the Flyers.

“He didn’t want to be a Flyer, so we had to come up with a plan,” said Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones, thanking other management staff around the league for keeping information about a potential trade quiet, after the trade broke. “You don’t want to be a Flyer? You’re not going to be a Flyer. We were very pleased in the return we got, a player we coveted, a player we were searching for in Jamie Drysdale.”

Gauthier was drafted fifth overall by the Flyers in 2022, and just this week broke a 25-year-old NCAA scoring record for u20 players.