For the second time in less than a week, the Edmonton Oilers battled the pesky Anaheim Ducks, this time from Rogers Place in Edmonton. Their last meeting was arguably the Oilers’ worst game of the season, resulting in a 5-3 loss. They were sloppy in that game and gave up multiple two-goal leads before ultimately allowing a late goal in the final three minutes to give the Ducks the hard-fought victory.
While Anaheim was able to keep it close in this one and battle back from another two-goal deficit, Edmonton got some redemption and was able to flip the script from their last meeting and secure a 3-2 victory, courtesy of a late goal of their own for their first win of 2025.
This victory improved their record to 23-12-3 on the season, tying them with the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division and putting them six points behind the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights. While they didn’t play their best, Edmonton still found a way to get two points. Here are three takeaways from this latest Oilers win.
Rogers Place: Home Sweet Home
The Oilers got off to an incredibly slow start at Rogers Place this season, losing their first three games and going 2-5-1 in their first eight. Since then, Edmonton is 12-4-0 at home, winning 10 of their last 11 games. The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are their only blemish during that span. The Oilers are currently fifth in wins and sixth in points at home so far this season with an overall record of 14-7-1.
Related: Draisaitl’s Late Goal Secures Oilers’ 3-2 Win Over Ducks
With that said, the Oilers are tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the most home games played with 22. The Oilers have only played 16 road games this season which is tied for the fewest. That means they will be playing a lot of road games in the final few months, which makes their home games even more important. They need to take care of business in front of their fans, considering they only have 19 home games remaining, with 25 on the road.
Since Edmonton has been a great home team over the past few seasons, it’s crucial that they finish no worse than second in the Pacific. They need to try and pry away the division title from the Golden Knights. Having home-ice advantage in the playoffs is invaluable, so they need to try and secure home ice for as many rounds as possible. Oiler fans don’t need to be reminded about what happened in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season: they lost on the road. Would they have had that same fate if Game 7 was played in Edmonton? That series could have been vastly different. Therefore, it’s imperative that the Oilers go on a heater to try and secure home ice throughout the postseason.
Oilers’ Blown Leads Becoming Far Too Common
This sounds like a broken record, but once again, the Oilers can’t hang on to a two-goal lead. So far this season, they have blown two-goal leads against the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, and the Ducks (twice). Out of those six games, they have fought back and won two of them, with this game against Anaheim as the only one in regulation. They could easily have more regulation wins and lopsided victories, but they take their foot off the gas too frequently and allow teams to claw their way back into games. They got the job done in this one, but they need to find another gear when they have the lead.
Leon Draisaitl Is Mr. Clutch
Leon Draisaitl has been dominant so far this season. He has a league-leading 28 goals on the season, which is five more than second place. He’s also second in the league in points (57), only behind Nathan MacKinnon (64). He scored to give Edmonton a 3-2 lead with only 1:35 remaining in the third period, and they held on for a much-needed regulation victory.
Since head coach Kris Knoblauch benched him earlier in the season, the superstar forward has been on an absolute tear, and has put the team on his back. He’s currently on a 13-game point streak, recording 25 points during that time. Out of Edmonton’s 23 wins, Draisaitl has the game-winning goal in nine of them. If he continues his exceptional play, he should absolutely be in the Hart Trophy conversation, even ahead of his teammate, Connor McDavid.
The Oilers have gone to overtime 10 times already this season, winning seven of those games. But, regulation wins are used as a tiebreaker in the standings, and Edmonton only has 16 of them. They need to find ways to win more games in 60 minutes. Draisaitl accomplished just that with his late-game heroics.
It’s a short turnaround for the Oilers as they head to Seattle to play the Kraken on Saturday night (Jan. 4) to begin a four-game road trip. Next, they will face the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Chicago Blackhawks before heading home for a huge divisional matchup against the Kings on Jan. 13. This is a busy stretch for Edmonton as they play nine games in 16 days.
