Oilers Keep Rolling With Wild Victory Over Golden Knights

The Oilers are becoming accustomed to playoff-style hockey.

First, they rode an electric crowd to a win over St. Louis. Then, they eked out a tight-checking 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay. Today, they survived a back-and-forth tilt with the Vegas Golden Knights that featured its fare share of extracurricular activities, coming away with a 6-3 win over the division leaders.

We'll pick this one up in the middle. Already up 1-0 heading into the second period, the Oilers exploded for four goals in the first twelve minutes of the frame to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Leon Draisaitl led the charge, notching a goal and two assists, while Stuart Skinner was nails in the early going.

It was a continuation of everything that's gone right for the Oilers on their recent hot streak. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins notched a powerplay goal to open the scoring, while Zach Hyman continued his return to form and Connor Brown scored his 5th to eclipse last season's goal total.

Combined with Skinner's excellence and the usual dominance from Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, it seemed like the Oilers would cruise to a second consecutive blowout win.

But this game had a lot more in store. The wheels started to come off for the Oilers late in the second, as the Golden Knights capitalized on Edmonton's defensive lapses to score two goals in 26 seconds to cut the lead to 5-2 with four minutes left in the period.

Then the fireworks really got started. With about three minutes left, Vegas forward Jack Eichel followed Oiler defenceman Mattias Ekholm into the corner and dumped him headfirst into the boards with a dangerous cross-check, leaving him lying face down on the ground.

Thankfully, Ekholm was alright, and popped back up to join the scrum as the Oilers descended on Eichel. The Golden Knights star was sent to the penalty box, but then removed after further review, to the displeasure of basically everyone in the building.

"I think it's a penalty," Ekholm told reporters after the game. "I know that if I were to do that to somebody and get two minutes, I wouldn't say a word about it."

Things got worse for Edmonton in the third. Just one minute into the final frame, Stuart Skinner made a rare fatal misplay behind his own net, resulting in a shorthanded goal for Brett Howden. Suddenly, it was a 5-3 game, and it looked like the Oilers might let this one get away from them.

Thankfully, one Skinner bailed out the other, as Jeff Skinner responded with a goal just 38 seconds later to bring the lead back to three. The Oilers would shut the door the rest of the way, with especially great play from Stuart Skinner in net, to close out a 6-3 win over their division rivals and send Oiler fans home happy.

Player of the Game: Leon Draisaitl

I'm planting my flag now: Leon Draisaitl should be the frontrunner for the Hart Trophy.

His three-point game gives him 45 points on the season, tied with Kirill Kaprizov for second in the league behind only Nathan MacKinnon. His 22 goals are two clear of Kaprizov for first in the NHL, and he's been one of the league's best two-way players, showing the best defensive impacts of his career.

He's got 13 points during Edmonton's five-game win streak, with at least two points in each game. He's been the Oilers' best player all season long, and now that they're playing like one of the best teams in the league, he's got as good a claim as anyone to being the league's MVP.

The Oilers are now three-for-three during their weeklong gauntlet of Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Vegas, and Florida, with only a Stanley Cup Final rematch left to complete the sweep. With five wins in a row and eight in their past nine, nobody is hotter than the Edmonton Oilers. That should have everyone else very scared indeed.

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