Five positive takeaways from the Oilers’ gruelling road trip

The following night, Darnell Nurse didn’t hesitate to drop the mitts with the 6-foot-9, 242-pounder Curtis Douglas, in a quick scuffle after the monster laid a heavy hit on Jake Walman. Nurse picked up an instigator penalty, but his teammates rallied to kill it off for him.

Against the Florida Panthers, we saw that pack mentality throughout the game — Trent Frederic pulling A.J. Greer out of a scrum, before getting dumped in a greasy move by the Panther, Podkolzin coming to the aid of his captain once again, and Ty Emberson taking down Greer after he threw a cheap punch at Connor Clattenburg near the end of the game.

Overall, the Oilers started showing signs on the road trip that they genuinely care about one another, and we’re beginning to see that pack mentality finally take shape. Having each other’s backs matters — it unifies the team and raises the battle level. Committing to stand up for one another is what Cup-contending teams do, and I think the Oilers learned on the road trip that they can do it, even without someone like Corey Perry on the roster.

Roslovic Continued to Stay Red Hot on the Road Trip

Jack Roslovic, at just $1.5 million a season, is looking like an absolute heist of a signing. He has 17 points (9G, 8A) in 22 games and was one of the hottest Oilers on the seven-game road trip, finishing fourth in points with seven (5G, 2A), behind Leon Draisaitl (10), McDavid (nine) and Evan Bouchard (nine). Roslovic started the trip with a wonderful OT winner against the Philadelphia Flyers and ended it with two big goals against the Florida Panthers, and he could’ve added another against the Tampa Bay Lightning if not for Andrei Vasilevskiy’s ridiculous pad save.

Additionally, if you take away Andrew Mangiapane’s lone faceoff win on the road trip that gave him a 100% stat on the dot, Roslovic’s 68% was the highest faceoff percentage on the trip (17–8), stepping in for McDavid on occasion when the draws were on the right side.

All in all, it’s safe to say Roslovic has fit in like a glove on the Oilers — not only on the ice, but it seems in the locker room as well, with Stuart Skinner raving about him after the win against the Panthers, “He’s a heck of a teammate. Right when he came in, it just felt like he was part of the family right away.”

Bouchard and Ekholm are Starting to Look Like a Strong Top Pairing Again

Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm have statistically been one of the best pairings in the NHL since they were put together, ever since the Swedish D-man arrived in Oil Country in 2023. Yet both got off to a slow start this season — Bouchard with some glaring giveaways, and Ekholm looking a step behind, likely still working out the kinks from the injury he suffered last season.

However, while they weren’t flawless, they started showing signs of being that solid top pairing on the road trip. Bouchard tallied nine points (1G, 8A) in seven games, while Ekholm put up three points (1G, 2A) — all of them coming against the Panthers — with both going a combined +10 in the final game of the trip.

Additionally, among all NHL D-pairings that played a minimum of 60 minutes, from Nov. 12 to Nov. 22 — the length of the Oilers’ road trip — Ekholm and Bouchard played the fourth-most minutes as a pairing in the NHL, and according to Natural Stat Trick, at 5v5, they posted:

– 81.82% Goals For Percentage (GF%) — 4th best in the NHL (9-2)
– 56.65% Corsi (CF%)
– 56% Shots For Percentage (SF%)
– 53.13% Scoring Chances For Percentage (SCF%)

The Oilers’ blue line, praised as one of the league’s best heading into the season, has struggled for much of it, but one of the NHL’s top pairings from the past couple of years is finally starting to wake up.

Matt Savoie Showed He Can Handle Top-Six Duty

Matt Savoie recorded four points on the seven-game road trip, which accounted for 67% of his six points on the season, and those four points also ranked fourth most among Oilers forwards on the trip.

Much like most of the season, the Kris Knoblauch line blender was in full effect throughout the road trip, but Savoie’s centerman for most of the trip was McDavid, with rotating players on the other wing — Roslovic, Zach Hyman, and Mangiapane. That said, Savoie held his own in the top-six opportunity he was given.

It started with his best assist of his young NHL career, with a spectacular no-look pass to Roslovic on the game-winning overtime goal against the Flyers, and he ended the road trip with being rewarded for his hard work, scoring on the empty net against the Panthers.

In addition to putting up points on the trip, Savoie was relentless on the forecheck, and what also stood out — something I scribbled repeatedly in my notebook during the road trip — was ‘Savoie strips puck.’ According to Natural Stat Trick, he was tied for second on the team in takeaways with six on the road trip, though it certainly felt like more. His anticipation is tremendous, and his ability to strip and poke-check pucks away is among the best on the team, and I’d imagine it will only get better.

For the time being, there shouldn’t be any reason to remove him from the top six, though when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins returns, his spot could be at risk. Yet, Savoie’s confidence should be at an all-time high, and even if he is dropped from the top six, that confidence may be exactly what he needs to be a driver on the bottom lines and take advantage of weaker defensive pairings.

Oilers Finish Road Trip With Steady Goaltending

If you polled 100 Oilers fans on which position needs an upgrade, in a world that’s so polarized, I don’t know of another poll that would get near-unanimous agreement — likely near close to 100% would say ‘in net.’

All season long, the Oilers’ goaltending has been inconsistent, which is not exactly breaking news. Stuart Skinner can shine in one game, only to have fingers pointed at him from fans after the next loss, reflected in his 3.00 goals-against average (GAA) and .885 save percentage (SV%). His crease partner, Calvin Pickard, hasn’t been the usual steady ‘Picks,’ posting a 3.87 GAA and .851 SV% on the season.

On the road trip, Edmonton lost 7–4 to the Washington Capitals on Nov. 19, with Skinner allowing five goals before the Oilers gave up two empty-netters. After the game, Darnell Nurse said, “It’s tough to win games when you’re giving up five before the empty netter.”

Nurse could have just been stating facts, but on the other hand, that comment might have been a subtle poke suggesting his netminders need to do a better job. That came after Buffalo commentator Rob Ray, when the Oilers pulled their netminder and the net was empty against the Sabres, said, “Yeah, it has been [empty] for most of the night, so what’s the difference?”

Nevertheless, at that point, it was back-to-back games in which the Oilers had allowed five or more goals, and they needed one of their netminders to stop the bleeding in the next game. Pickard got the assignment and delivered one of his best starts of the season, playing like his job was on the line — making 33 of 35 saves for a .943 SV%, including a spectacular diving stop on Brandon Hagel in the second period. The Oilers lost 2–1 in OT, but he played lights out for most of it, admitting after the game, “I needed to have a good game here tonight.”

Perhaps he should’ve earned the start against the Panthers with that performance, but Skinner got the nod in net that night. Despite allowing three goals, he posted a .921 SV% against the Panthers, which was his fourth-best save percentage in 17 starts this season. More importantly, he was strong in the third period, making 10 big saves in a frame where the Panthers had turned up the pressure.

Both their netminders, Skinner and Pickard, put up some of the best performances of their seasons, and it came at the tail end of a gruelling road trip. As much as fans want a goaltender trade, I feel that won’t happen in the immediate future. The Oilers just battled their way through one of the hardest road trips of the season, and with six of their next seven games at home, there’s a chance for ‘Stu’ and ‘Picks’ to hit the reset button and build off their strong performances — something GM Stan Bowman will, of course, be watching very closely.