Oilers Avoid Disaster With Big Win

Oil Country held its collective breath late in the first period of last night's game in Boston.

Down 1-0 to the Oilers, the Bruins' Nikita Zadorov bowled over Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner while driving to the net. Skinner's mask flew off and he remained down on the ground for a while as the boos rained down at TD Garden. Skinner did get up under his own power and seemed ready to play until he was removed from the game due to concussion protocols.

A long-term injury to Skinner would be disastrous. Calvin Pickard is a capable backup, but he's not cut out to be a starter for a Stanley Cup contender. Thankfully, Skinner returned for the start of the second period, and Oilers fans could exhale.

Even better, Skinner was incredible over the final 40 minutes. He was steady in limited action as the Oilers dominated in the second, and made huge save after huge save as the Bruins pushed back in the third. All told, he stopped all 26 shots he faced as the Oilers felled the Bruins, 4-0.

Skinner's play was just one part of a dominant Oilers win. They were all over the Bruins, winning the expected goals battle 5.34 to 2.47 and blitzing poor Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who was the only reason this game wasn't a blowout.

Adam Henrique played one of his best games as an Oiler, notching two near-identical goals for his first two-goal game since January 21st, 2024, when he was a member of the Anaheim Ducks. His third line between Jeff Skinner and Zach Hyman was excellent, garnering 71.4% of the expected goals together.

The end result for the Oilers is a 4-0 masterpiece of a win, their fourth in a row and fifth consecutive win on the road in Boston, and sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division. Not too bad for a night's work.

Play of the Game

Skinner's save on Pavel Zacha here was the turning point of the game, keeping the lead intact and giving Connor McDavid the chance to show Zacha how it's done and double the Oilers' lead midway through the second period. Stick taps go to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for forcing the turnover and finding a streaking McDavid, too.

The Oilers have fully rebounded from their weird little 0-2 weekend road trip to California after Christmas, winning four straight since that point. Their next challenge comes on Thursday when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on the Metropolitan stop of their four-division road trip.

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