The Edmonton Oilers are one of the best teams in the National Hockey League. After a 7-4 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, they showed just how magical they can be.
They didn’t just dominate a bunch of nobodies either. The Golden Knights came into the game 9th in goals against and are one of the teams that Edmonton is battling with atop the Pacific Division. Both of them have a chance to be the top-seeded team in the Western Conference.
Normally when you think of the Edmonton Oilers, the first thing that comes to mind is Connor McDavid. He is the best player in the world because of his production but also because of his ability to handle the puck at top speed.
In this win, McDavid didn’t even have a shot on goal. That’s odd for the guy who leads the NHL with 60 goals (the next closest is David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins with 52). McDavid did, however, have three assists to get his point total up to 143.
The Edmonton Oilers have a lot of firepower on their team right now.
It is nice when you have the league’s leading scorer. It is even better when you have the league’s top two leading scorers, and that is what the Oilers have. Leon Draisaitl had one goal and one assist to get up to 116 points on the year. He is truly magnificent as well.
You can’t even claim that this is the McDavid/Draisaitl show anymore either. There are lots of players on this team that have stepped up this year.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a former number-one overall pick himself, has had his best season to date, and he is not done yet. Against the Golden Knights on Tuesday, he scored his 35th goal and added four assists for a five-point night.
He is now at 96 points and will reach 100 for the first time in his career. That is an amazing accomplishment for him. After all these years, he is finally recognized for how great he is. It is nice to see the offensive numbers grow a bit as well.
Zach Hyman scored his 33rd goal of the season on Tuesday as well. He is the fourth player on the Oilers roster that has 30 or more goals on the season, which is truly remarkable. To say that he has taken advantage of his opportunity would be an understatement.
There are a couple of quality defensemen on this team too as both Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse both have good offensive numbers. They both happened to score in this Vegas game as well, which played a big role in their winning.
If their goaltending can step up, which it has in 2022-23, they can go very deep in the playoffs. They reached the Western Conference Finals in 2022-23 with below-average goaltending, so now it is fun to think about what they can do with Stuart Skinner playing well.
All in all, in addition to being one of the best teams in the league, they are also one of the most entertaining. Hockey fans around the world should be rooting for them unless they are playing their team because they are a true pleasure to watch.