The Edmonton Oilers picked up their second straight win on the road, defeating the New York Rangers 3-1 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (March 16).
Viktor Arvidsson, Corey Perry and Connor McDavid each scored for Edmonton, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins assisting on all three Oilers goals. Will Cuylle had the lone New York goal.
Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner made 21 saves, while New York’s Igor Shesterkin stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced between the pipes.
Following weeks of subpar play by the Oilers, their performance at the world’s most famous arena was encouraging for a number of reasons. While Edmonton had won its previous game, 2-1 in overtime against the host New York Islanders on Friday (March 14), Sunday was the first time in a while that the defending Western Conference champions looked like a team capable of making another run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Oilers Lock It Down in Third Period
Edmonton jumped in front 1-0 on Perry’s 15th goal of 2024-25, at 19:17 of the opening frame. But after Cuylle scored in the second period, the teams went into the third period deadlocked.
That was not an ideal situation for the Oilers, who had gone 14 consecutive games without outscoring their opponent in the third period and had shut out the opposition in the third period just once since January. Not surprisingly, Edmonton had just two regulation wins over that stretch.
On Sunday, Edmonton flipped the script. The Oilers grabbed the lead when Arvidsson scored 6:09 into the third period, then got the all-important insurance goal, a laser off the stick of McDavid, with 3:35 to play.
As a team, Edmonton played solid defensively in the final frame, limiting the Rangers to seven shots over the final 20 minutes. It was a textbook road third period by the Oilers, something rarely seen from them in 2024-25.
Skinner Steps Up His Game
The beleaguered Skinner, who came into the game with a .896 save percentage, second worst among all NHL goalies to start at least 40 games this season, allowed less than two goals for the first time since he shut out the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 13.
He blocked a handful of high-danger shots, finishing the game with 2.81 goals saved above expected. Most notable, however, was the timing of those stops.
Related: Stuart Skinner Leads Oilers to 3-1 Victory Over Rangers
Skinner kept the game tied at 1-1 with a tremendous save off Rangers centre Matt Rempe on a breakaway just 100 seconds after Cuylle had got the home team on the board in the second period. Then, after Arvidsson had restored Edmonton’s lead, Skinner robbed Mika Zibanejad with a glove save on a rebound midway through the third period.
If either one of those pucks gets by Skinner, Sunday’s outcome might have been very different. The Edmonton goalie’s ability to make the big save in the big moment was a big reason why the Oilers made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, and it was just as much why they won on Sunday.
Oilers Finally Have Reason to Smile
There are two lasting images of the Oilers during their recent slump that saw them go 3-8-0 from Feb. 7 to March 13 and fall from first to third in the Pacific Division.
The first was after their game against Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Feb. 27, which saw Edmonton lose 4-3 in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final. As the Oilers exited the ice in Sunrise, alternate captain Leon Draisaitl angrily slammed the boards and appeared to be yelling at Skinner. Fans and media alike speculated that Draisaitl was upset that Skinner failed to leave his net so that Edmonton could get the extra attacker on the ice in the final seconds.
The second was during Edmonton’s 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres last Monday (March 11) at KeyBank Center. Twice during the final 73 seconds, with their stars on the ice trying for the tying goal, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch elected not to call a timeout following an icing by Buffalo. After the game ended, McDavid made a frustrated gesture that many believe was directed at Knoblauch over the coach’s questionable late-game tactics.
On Sunday, the scene near the end of the game was much, much different, as cameras captured a very happy Draisaitl and McDavid wearing big smiles on the visitors’ bench, moments after the captain had scored to put Edmonton ahead 3-1.
It was a little thing, but spoke volumes, as the Oilers finally appeared to have escaped the dark clouds that have hung over them for weeks. This team goes as its two superstars go.
There is certainly reason for sunny disposition in Oil Country, too: with their win at MSG, the Oilers leapfrogged the Los Angeles Kings into second spot in the division standings and now sit four points back of the Pacific-leading Vegas Golden Knights with 15 games remaining on their regular season schedule. Edmonton is back in action on Tuesday (March 18), when the Utah Hockey Club visits the Oilers at Rogers Place.
