PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Blue Jackets

The Oilers aim to make it three straight victories on Monday night when they face the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in the second of back-to-back games

October 28, 2024

The Edmonton Oilers will finish off back-to-back games on Monday night as part of their four-game road trip when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 5:00 pm MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880CHED.

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Draisaitl celebrates 29th birthday with three-point night vs. Detroit

COLUMBUS, OH – The Edmonton Oilers will finish off a back-to-back set on Monday at Nationwide Arena against the Columbus Blue Jackets after celebrating a 3-2 overtime win in Detroit last night to pick up their second consecutive victory.

"All around, a great night and a great win for us," Draisaitl said. "It's always nice to come back in a game like that and start the road trip off right.

"We'll get right back to work [Monday]."

Leon Draisaitl enjoyed his 29th birthday by factoring in on all three of Edmonton's goals, extending his point streak to six games (5G, 4A) with a friendly bounce off Olli Maatta's skate in the second period before he set up Evan Bouchard's equalizer in the third and capped off the win in overtime by finishing off Mattias Ekholm's stellar pass only 18 seconds into sudden death.

Leon speaks after scoring a pair of goals on his birthday

Draisaitl finished with two goals and an assist, becoming the 12th player in NHL history with 350+ goals and 500+ assists prior to his 29th birthday. Ten of the 11 players to accomplish this before Draisaitl are all in the NHL Hall of Fame—with Jaromir Jagr being the only exception due to the fact he's still competing at 52 years old with Kladno of the Czech Extraliga.

In overtime, Ekholm took advantage of the extra ice afforded to him by having nine seconds of carry-over power play from regulation to pick out the German at the back post with an incredible pass, helping seal the extra point for his side after the Oilers came back to tie the game on two separate occasions on Sunday night at Little Caesars Arena.

"I've very rarely gotten a better pass or an easier tap-in than that one," Draisaitl said. "That was all-world. He's just an amazing player."

"That was an excellent play," Knoblauch added. "The fake slap shot and then the sauce pass to the back door. It was also Leon on his backhand. That's not an easy tip. A lot of guys miss that just because it's your backhand and you're so tight, so a lot of credit to Leon too, because that's not easy."

Ekholm produced two assists for his second straight multi-point game – recording helpers on Evan Bouchard's tying goal in the third period and Leon Draisaitl's early extra-time winner – along with Connor McDavid adding two helpers in the victory.

"You often win when your best players perform, and our guys stepped up and made some key plays," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said.

Kris speaks following the team's 3-2 overtime victory

Bouchard and Ekholm have had the scoring chances go heavily in their favour when out on the ice together at even strength, owning a 147-97 advantage in chances (60.75 FF%) over 152:51 of ice time together this season, as per Natural Stat Trick.

Netminder Calvin Pickard was critical to the Oilers picking up the win with 24 saves, including half of them in a 12-save opening period where the game could've got out of reach if not for the 32-year-old netminder's contributions in the opening frame.

On Monday, Stuart Skinner is expected to re-take the crease for Monday night's meeting with the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, where Columbus is 4-1-0 in their last five matchups against the Oilers.

They've won three straight on home ice against Edmonton, including eight of their last 11 in the capital city of Ohio.

Columbus has alternated wins and losses all season (L-W-L-W-L-W-L), scoring exactly six goals in each of their victories and sitting fifth overall in the NHL for goals per game (3.86) despite being in the bottom 10 when it comes to Expected Goals, Shot Attempts, Slot Shots, Inner Slot Shots and O-Zone Possession Time.

Edmonton has had the opposite success, sitting 30th in GPG (2.25) but in the top five in all the above categories.

The Oilers edge the Red Wings in OT via birthday boy Draisaitl

The Blue Jackets are led offensively by Kirill Marchenko, who has a team-high nine points (4G, 5A) through seven games this season. The Russian has 48 goals in 144 career games and is on pace to become the second-fastest player to score their first 50 career goals in Blue Jackets history behind Rick Nash.

Forward Adam Fantilli has 30 points in 56 career games (14G, 16A), with his 14 career goals being the fifth-most in the NHL among players currently 20 years old or younger. Yegor Chinakov has 16 goals and 15 assists in the last 43 games, nearly matching his career output from the first 109 games of his career.

Edmonton's stars have been good over their careers against Columbus, with Connor McDavid leading the charge with 30 points (nine goals) in 16 career games against the Blue Jackets. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has five goals and 20 assists in 24 career meetings, while Leon Draisaitl has seven goals and 11 assists in 16 games.

Corey Perry leads all active Oilers in career games (48) and points (42) versus Columbus, having just dropped the gloves with Joe Veleno in the first period of Sunday's victory in the Motor City for his second fighting major of the season. Perry has four goals in his last seven games against the Blue Jackets.

The Oilers aim to win their third straight game for the first time in all competitions since winning Games 4, 5 & 6 during last season's Stanley Cup Final.