The Edmonton Oilers capped off a three-game road trip in California with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, marking the team’s fifth consecutive win.
The Oilers’ only loss on the season came at home in the opener against the Vancouver Canucks - a 6-5 defeat in overtime. In the following game, the Oilers picked up a 9-7 win over those same Canucks.
For a team that has struggled to keep the puck out of their net in recent history - even despite trips to the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years in 2024-25 - it looked like it may be more of the same, even with the newly hired Mike Babcock behind the bench.
Since allowing 13 goals in two games to the lowly Canucks, Edmonton has won four straight and allowed just five goals over that span. It looks like everything is quickly clicking for the Oilers this season.
“Honestly, it’s pretty impressive how we’re able to score and also play a really solid defensive game,” goalie Devon Levi said after Tuesday’s win over the Kings. “The message that [Babcock] is sending is that we have better, but if that’s our bad game, which was a great game, I think we’ll take that any day.”
The Oilers are tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the most goals per game on the young season (4.83), which is nothing new when they employ two of the most dynamic skaters in the league in three-time Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who also picked up a Hart Trophy in 2020.
“I notice I see a team that’s upbeat; I see a team that’s energetic, has speed, is aggressive and wins a lot of puck battles,” McDavid said after contributing four points in the win over Los Angeles on Tuesday. “Those are all great things, and if you do those things night after night, you’re going to put together some wins.”
McDavid and Draisaitl have combined for 28 points through six games, with McDavid’s 17 leading all skaters. They’ve also been boosted by dazzling starts from defenceman Evan Bouchard (six goals and 14 points, both tops among defencemen) and winger Vasily Podkolzin (seven goals and nine points).
The Oilers have finished 11th or better in goals scored each of the past seven seasons, and have qualified for the postseason every year in that stretch. They have finished 10th or worse in goals allowed in every season in that span, and things bottomed out last year, when they finished 25th with 3.23 goals allowed per game.
Improved defensive structure and improved goaltending were both needed to avoid a repeat of last season’s struggles, and these early wins have shown a little bit of both.
“It’s always easy to crack a little bit, but when you believe in who you are and what you do, you can keep doing it night after night,” Babcock said after Edmonton’s 5-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday. “And guys, we’re just getting started. We’re going to get a lot better, I promise you that.”
The Oilers bounced back from a 2-0 first-period deficit against Anaheim, holding the Ducks to just 15 shots over the final two frames and collecting five goals in the second period to pull away.
“When you feel that you don’t have your legs,” Draisaitl said after the win over Anaheim. “You feel like you’re getting pushed into your own end by their speed a little bit — and we’re all men, we all want to be better, we want to be at our best — and I thought we pushed back hard and we did it the right way.”
Some performances have seen the defence carry the load - such as the aforementioned showing against Anaheim, or in a 3-1 victory over San Jose in which the Sharks finished with only 19 shots on goal.
At other times, the Oilers have had to lean on goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Levi, like in the victory over Los Angeles in which Levi turned away 39 of 40 shots.
A fast start for the Oilers is a welcome change after the team has played sluggishly early in recent seasons. They were sitting at 11-10-5 by the end of November a season ago before going 30-20-6 the rest of the way, and were 10-8-2 through 20 games two years ago before going 38-21-3 after that.
| Season | Record through 25 | Record after | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | 5-0-1 | ? | ? |
| 2025-26 | 10-10-5 | 31-20-6 | 93 |
| 2024-25 | 13-10-2 | 35-19-3 | 101 |
| 2023-24 | 12-12-1 | 37-15-5 | 104 |
| 2022-23 | 14-11-0 | 36-12-9 | 109 |
The Oilers return home to take on the Utah Mammoth on Thursday for their next game, and Babcock is expecting more improvement. Especially as they await the return of lineup regulars Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman, as well as goaltender Frederik Andersen, who are all dealing with injuries.
“We’re going to start getting some players back, and we’re going to get way deeper and way harder to play against, and that’s a positive thing for us,” Babcock said.
“Life’s pretty good, so let’s get back to Edmonton, regroup, get a few bodies back and get playing.”