Shoot the puck. That's how the game started as the Edmonton Oilers picked up where they left off against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. After winning 9-4, the Oilers responded with another win, this time a 6-2 trouncing of the Winnipeg Jets. Connor McDavid’s early shot set the tone, sparking a five-goal first period in which the Jets managed only five shots. Edmonton controlled the second as well before easing off slightly in the third. Winnipeg’s brief late push was the only thing preventing this from being a full-on rout. TRENDING STORIES: Oilers Top Prospect Having Strong Start In AHL [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/oilers-top-prospect-having-strong-start-in-ahl] Fans Calling For Oilers To Give Red-Hot Prospect An NHL Look [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/fans-calling-for-oilers-to-give-red-hot-prospect-an-nhl-look] "I'd say the first two periods was a 10 out of 10. I loved a lot of things," said head coach Kris Knoblauch. He said they didn't give up very much, and noted that outside of the third, this game was about as solid as it gets. "It was nice to get some secondary scoring, we haven't had very much of it lately," he added. It's taken some time for the Oilers to get to this point, but the last few games -- including the loss to the Minnesota Wild in which the Oilers were arguably the better team -- have shown the team is rounding a corner. "All in all, a deserving win, I thought," said Leon Draisaitl. "We looked a lot more connected, we looked a lot faster." As for where the recent run of games comes from, games that are more indicative of the Oilers group fans have come to know and love: "Sometimes you lose confidence in your ability and the ability in the group a little bit, you know it takes a little lull to get out of it. Hopefully, we can string a couple together here now." "Nobody wants to start the way we have in the past couple of years; we want to get off to better starts. At the end of the day, there's an underlying confidence within our group; we know how to play, we just need to do that more often at the start of the year." "It comes down to sticking to it and not getting frustrated... we kind of exploded the other night and followed up on it," noted Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. "I think the feeling is we're starting to get that back. You could see the way we wanted to play creeping into our game." Was there ever a doubt the Oilers would "find it"? The players certainly won't admit it, even if things looked a bit iffy to start the season. "We always believe we're going to find it... we understand it's going to take a lot of work. Sometimes you feel like you're working and it's not happening; that can get frustrating. When we stick together as a group inside this room, that's when good things happen," added Nugent-Hopkins. As for what's going right, beyond the explosion of goals from the group, Knoblauch noted, > "I think it starts with the team defending much better and not giving up so > many Grade-A opportunities. It's so much easier for the goaltender to > play...Our goaltending has been much better, but it starts with how much > better we're defending in front of him." - The floodgates have officially opened for the Oilers. This is 19 goals in the past four games. The stars are putting up points, but the depth is contributing as well. The Oilers look a lot more like the Oilers fans know and there's a much more friendly set of opponents and a favorable schedule ahead. It will be about not taking their foot of the gas and falling back into old habits. Now that they're feeling as good as they are with the wins, this group won't want to go back to what it felt like when nothing was going in and the team wasn't firing on all cylinders. Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/] team site to never miss the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/game-day] coverage, and more [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/players]. Add us to your Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwn-DfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] favourites, and never miss a story.
