The Edmonton Oilers are on a two-game winning streak after defeating the Nashville Predators 4-2 at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday (Oct. 17).
Edmonton defenceman Brett Kulak had a pair of goals, while Connor McDavid and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Oilers, who rallied from an early 1-0 deficit. Nashville got one goal each from Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault.
Goaltender Calvin Pickard made 23 saves in Edmonton’s winning effort. Nashville netminder Juuse Saros turned aside 32 of the 35 shots he faced.
After opening the season with three consecutive losses, the Oilers are now 2-3-0. Here are five takeaways from Thursday’s victory in Music City.
Kulak Has Career Night
Kulak opened and closed the scoring for the Oilers. He fired a shot through traffic past Saros to tie the game at 1-1 late in the first period, then put the Predators away with an empty-net goal at 19:24 of the third period.
Before Thursday, Kulak had appeared in 502 regular season games and 76 playoff contests in his NHL career, and never scored more than once in any of them.
Thanks to his scoring outburst, Kulak currently has more goals so far this season than McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman combined.
Hyman Still Pointless
After scoring 56 times in 2023-24, Hyman is without a goal so far this season. In fact, the veteran forward has yet to collect a single point through five games, his longest pointless streak since signing with the Oilers as a free agent during the 2021 offseason.
But while he was unable to get off the schneid on Thursday, Hyman easily played his best game of the season in Nashville. He led all players with five shots on goal, equalling his total from Edmonton’s first four games, and finished the night with a plus-2 rating. The winger, who is known for scoring greasy goals, was around the Nashville net all night.
If Hyman keeps that up, it won’t be long before he’s lighting the lamp on the regular again. His next point will be No. 400 in the regular season of his NHL career.
Pickard Picks up His Play
Pickard is another Oiler who had something of a return to form on Thursday. For the first time this fall, the 32-year-old resembled the rock-solid backup who went 12-7-1 with a 2.45 goals-against average (GAA) and .909 save percentage (SV%) last season.
Related: 5 Things to Know About Oilers’ Goalie Call-Up Calvin Pickard
In his second start and third appearance of 2024-25, Pickard made a number of good saves against the Predators and stopped all 13 shots he faced while protecting Edmonton’s one-goal lead in the third period.
Pickard has been playing a bit of catch-up, after being limited to just 42:38 of game time during the preseason, when he suffered an undisclosed injury that kept him out of practice for a few days. He allowed five goals on 20 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place last Saturday (Oct. 12).
Shorthanded Struggles Persist
The penalty kill is one aspect of Edmonton’s game that still looks nothing like last season, however. It was an issue again on Thursday, as Forsberg scored on the power play midway through the first period to give the Predators a 1-0 lead. Nashville finished the night 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
The Oilers have already allowed eight power-play goals this season, which is twice as many as they gave up in 25 games during the entire 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Edmonton’s penalty kill percentage of 57.9% (11-for-19) ranks second worst in the NHL, ahead of only the winless Colorado Avalanche.
Oilers Continue Dominance of Preds
With Thursday’s triumph, the Oilers have at least one point to show for their last eight visits to Bridgestone Arena and are 13-2-1 overall in their last 15 games against the Predators.
This marks an incredible reversal for the Oilers, who had lost 14 straight times to Nashville between October 2014 and October 2018 before beginning this current stretch of success.
The Predators are off to a tough start in 2024-25. With a record of 0-4-0, they are one of only three NHL teams yet to taste victory this season.
Edmonton was part of that winless club until defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime at Rogers Place on Tuesday (Oct. 15). Now the Oilers will go for a third straight victory when they visit the Dallas Stars on Saturday (Oct. 19). What a difference a few days can make.
