The Edmonton Oilers can put to bed the "Ghosts of Christmas Past" beginning tonight.
EDMONTON -- Number two starts tonight.
The Edmonton Oilers play their second game of the 2024-25 regular season tonight. They will face the Chicago Blackhawks, who played the Winnipeg Jets last night in a hard-fought 2-1 overtime loss.
Tonight is a big game for the Oilers. To avoid falling into the same hole they did last year, they need to do something they hadn't done until Kris Knoblauch was instated as head coach.
Win two games in a row.
Before Knoblauch took over, the team had only won three games. They won their third game of the year against the Nashville Predators, the Heritage Classic against the Calgary Flames, and the game before the coaching change against the Seattle Kraken.
Connor McDavid vs. Connor Bedard.They won their first game with Knoblauch as head coach, the second of a three-game win streak.
That's not going to be good enough this year.
They need to take advantage of the schedule and right the ship. That can start tonight against the Blackhawks. After tonight, they play against the Flames and then the Philadelphia Flyers.
That's three games against teams that didn't make the playoffs last year. Putting together a three-game win streak this early in the season would be a huge confidence booster. It would also put to bed any discussion of this season being a re-hash of the previous.
The Blackhawks are on the second game of a back-to-back. If the Oilers can find their game early, this could be the beginning of something the team desperately needs.
Three wins might not seem like much. But having success like that early should put everyone's mind at ease.
Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss news, interviews, or any other updates on the Oilers.