Calvin Pickard closes the door as Oilers beat Jets 4-0: Recap, Highlights, and Reaction

Late in the first period, the Oilers extended their lead. David Tomášek intercepted a pass beautifully, finding Samanski all alone in front of the Jets’ netminder. Samanski made no mistake, roofing the puck shortside.

About two and a half minutes into the second period, it was Noah Philp’s turn to beat the netminder. He received the puck from Troy Stecher as the trailer, making no mistake in ripping it past Domenic DiVincentiis to make it 3-0 Edmonton.

With the game well out of hand midway through the third period, the Oilers added a fourth goal. DiVincentiis made the initial save off Andrew Mangiapane, but Kasperi Kapanen was right there to bury the puck, doing so with a nice little toe drag.

Takeaways…

Usually, pre-season is taken lightly to get players up to speed. That wasn’t the case in this game, though. Josh Brown dropped the mitts with Tyrel Bauer in the second period, but the chippiness didn’t stop there. In the third, there were at least three scrums; one after Matthew Savoie tripped a Jet, one on a delayed penalty when Kasperi Kapanen and Haydn Fleury got into it, and one after Kapanen scored. Just a very entertaining game.

On top of scoring a goal, Darnell Nurse assisted on a goal, took four shots, blocked three shots, and had two hits. A lot of Nurse’s goals are scored the same way, with the left-shot defenceman getting far too much space and picking his spot. He’s playing at his best at the moment.

How can anyone say that Noah Philp doesn’t deserve a spot on the Oilers’ season opener? In Winnipeg, Philp finished with two assists, and on Friday, he picked up a goal. The large right-shot centre should be their undisputed fourth line centre at this point.

Returning to Kapanen, the right winger has been noticeable throughout the postseason, scoring a handful of goals and showcasing his speed. He not only did that in Friday’s game, but he also picked up a total of 16 penalty minutes. Love it.

Matthew Savoie was held off the scoresheet,  but he continues to battle alongside the boards. Tonight, he took two stick infractions, well, kind of, as his trip saw him throw the Jets’ player down. He’s a lot chippier than I thought.

Both Quinn Hutson and Ike Howard had a quiet night. The one thing Howard has done well this pre-season is the cross-ice one-timer on the power play. Very Leon Draisaitl-esque. The Europeans that the Oilers brought in during the off-season did not have a quiet game. Samanski scored a goal and an assist in just over 11 minutes of ice time, Tomášek picked up an assist, and Marjala did well on the forecheck. Tomášek will make the team, but both Samanski and Marjala could see NHL action as well.

Between the pipes, Calvin Pickard stopped all 21 shots he faced. While there weren’t many high-danger scoring chances, he was positionally sound and moved the puck well when called upon.

Just three more pre-season games remain before we get to the real thing. The first one is on Sunday at 6:00 PM MT, as the Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks for the first time in 2025-26.