Pre-Scout: Oilers look to finish trip on high note against hot Blues team

If the Edmonton Oilers beat the St. Louis Blues tonight, then the roadtrip is a wild success and last night’s 7-2 loss is all but forgotten.

If the Oilers lose, then it’s a 2-2 record on the road trip and the tone shifts, making a sour sound, despite a win over the league’s best team. Recency bias is real in this results-driven industry, but the Oilers flashed two strong defensive efforts together to defeat Vegas and Colorado. Can they muster up that effort again?

After reverting back to 2025-26 form and allowing seven goals against in a game, they were never close in, it’s time to reset against the Blues.

One thing different than the handful of blowouts that have been handed to the Oilers was that they didn’t take it lying down. Connor McDavid engaged in a scrum to end the second period. Trent Frederic and Jason Dickinson each engaged in dust-ups in the third period.

There was some emotional entanglement in the game, something noticeably absent earlier in the year.

“Obviously, it’s very frustrating, and [they are] trying to fire up our team. Then, the shot at Leon where they’re trying to clear the puck and they just roughed it up a little bit. But, obviously, there’s a lot of fire from our leaders and we needed that,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch.

So the team may be coming together in that sense. Time will tell.

Blues are rockin’

What exactly are the St. Louis Blues up to?

Seemingly out of the picture, trading their captain at the Trade Deadline, the Blues are toying with their fan’s belief systems lately, going 6-1-1 down the stretch. No Brayden Schenn? No problem.

After gagging away a three-goal lead to the New York Islanders to lose in overtime in the emotional return game for Schenn on Tuesday, the Blues got back to their winning ways against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes were all over STL early, but allowed the Blues to hang around.

Jimmy Snuggerud continued his hot streak and piled in two goals, as Jordan Binnington made 31 saves for a 3-1 win on the road. Just like the Oilers, they were flying to St. Louis early Friday morning.

It hasn’t been the offensive explosion straight from college that some may have expected, suffering a major wrist injury that kept him sidelined for nearly a month, but Snuggerud is firing as of late. He has five goals and nine points in just his last three games. 

The chemistry between his linemates, joined with Robert Thomas and Dylan Holloway, that has been most impressive. Together, they have a combined 11 goals and 28 points in their last six games. Whoa. 

“We’ve definitely kind of dug in for each other,” said Holloway after the win. “It seems like right now we’re really pulling through together as a team. We’re playing smart hockey. We’re playing kind of the way our team is built and playing to our identity. Once you get a couple games like that, everybody feels it. You know what it takes to win and you kind of try and keep that momentum going.”

Deadline shenanigans

Doug Armstrong was incensed that there was a leak about a potential Colton Parayko trade to Buffalo, claiming he knew that the leak did not come from them. Heck, he even checked every team employee’s phone.

“We did some due diligence as soon as that happened. We checked the phone records of all of our staff, texts and emails, and everybody passed the test, not surprisingly,” he said.

Bold moves, Doug.

Robert Thomas was dangled for a big asking price, and after all this talk about Armstrong being serious this time of moving on, St. Louis moved two pieces out. In the end, they’ll draft three times in the first round in the 2026 draft.

At least incoming general manager Alex Steen will have some new toys, after the volume of future contracts and money that Armstrong has currently signed on the roster.

Jarring numbers

As I wrote on Sunday, Tristan Jarry isn’t helping the Edmonton Oilers, and the Edmonton Oilers aren’t helping Tristan Jarry. Right from the jump in Dallas, the Oilers were fighting the puck, disengaged in front of their net and all in their zone, and dug a 5-0 hole before they started to turn a wheel.

Jarry seems jumpy, losing his angles and uneasy in the net. After coming in relief of the injured Connor Ingram on Tuesday and making 11 saves in a win, that momentum did not remain.

His save percentage has cratered to .855 in his Oilers tenure through 15 appearances. In his last five starts, Jarry is 0-4, allowing 26 goals, with a .797 save percentage. That Colorado game seems like an aberration. Perhaps taking the thinking out of the equation helped him.

Connor Ingram was healthy enough to backup on Thursday, meaning he’d be healthy enough to play. It’s Ingram’s net until deemed otherwise.

In brighter news, Jason Dickinson got his first goal as an Oiler and his first goal overall since January 19. He’s fit in well with the group.

Meanwhile, Connor McDavid’s 19-game road point streak was snapped, as he and Zach Hyman finished a team-worst minus-3 on the night. It’s worth mentioning that in the eight games since the Olympic break, McDavid has 14 points, adding to a league-leading 110 points. He’s also minus-1 overall in that stretch. 

Him picking a fight with Justin Hryckowian was as mad as I can recall seeing the captain. 

Notes:

• The Vegas Golden Knights beat Pittsburgh last night, so they are back in second in the Pacific, two points up in Edmonton with the same number of games played.
• Evan Bouchard extended his point streak to nine games, with four goals and 16 points in that stretch. Overall, he’s only been held pointless once in his last 15 games, with 27 total points in that span. 
• Leon Draisaitl has five goals and 15 points during a seven-game point streak.
• Connor McDavid is three goals away from 400 in his career.
• The Oilers are now 11-7-1 since their monster November road trip. 
• EDM is now 1-6-1 against the Central Division’s big three teams, and lost the Stars season series 19-8. They play Colorado once more.
• Dylan Holloway has two goals and eight points during a five-game point streak. He has two points in four career games vs the Oilers. 
• The Blues have the second worst goal-differential in the league at minus-45.
• Jordan Binnington lost eight straight starts between from Jan. 7-Feb. 28 before winning his last two.
• Joel Hofer should be expected between the pipes, who is 4-0-1 lately. In the last 10 games, Moneypuck rates that he is 8.4 Goals Saved Above Expected.
• Robert Thomas leads the Blues in points with 43. He’s also tied with three of his teammates for the lead in goals with 15.
• Cam Fowler was extended to a four-year, $6.4 million annual salary before the season began, after a career renaissance once he was moved by Anaheim in 2024-25. He’s scored just one goal this season, while being minus-15.
• Notice Jonathan Drouin, who came back the other way from Long Island. He scored in his debut against the Ducks. The former third overall pick is now suiting up with his fifth NHL team. Isn’t it crazy to think he’s just 30-years-old?
• The Oilers blew a two-goal lead in St. Louis back on November 3 to lose 3-2. Otherwise, the Oilers shutout the Blues on January 18 in Nugent-Hopkins’ 1000th NHL game. Connor Ingram has 27 saves in that game.
• Overall, EDM is 6-2-2 in their last 10 regular season games vs STL.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and has been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, he also collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues.