The <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/monday-musings-oilers-health-issues-battle-home-ice-advantage">Edmonton Oilers</a> are undefeated in games without both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl this season.
It&#8217;s been just one game and it came against the mediocre Seattle Kraken, but the Oilers put together a strong effort without their top two players on Saturday, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/ryan-nugent-hopkins-hat-trick-jeff-skinner-adam-henrique-edmonton-oilers">winning by a score of 5-4</a>.

Adam Henrique opened the scoring for Edmonton, burying his first goal since the beginning of March. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins led the way with three goals in the win and led forwards with just over 23 minutes of playing time. Jeff Skinner also sniped a goal and played a season-high 18:38 against Seattle.
With just about three weeks left until the playoffs start, the Oilers aren&#8217;t going to take any risks to rush back their stars, even if it means falling out of the race for the top spot in the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/playoff-race-golden-knights-stretch-lead-pacific-division">Pacific Division</a>. While McDavid and Draisaitl appear <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-connor-mcdavid-leon-draisaitl-miss-three-games-dallas-stars-seattle-kraken-calgary-flames">unlikely</a> to return to action this week, head coach Kris Knoblauch sees this stretch without them as an opportunity for other players to refine their game.
<blockquote>“We hope in the long run this is good for us,” <a href="https://x.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1904251237417300273">Knoblauch said</a>. “Connor and Leon, do we ever want them out of our lineup? No. Probably in the short term it’s harder for us to win games and move up in the standings and we want to win as many games as possible, but collectively for us as a team, we want to be at our best for the playoffs. That’s the most important thing, and this little break without having those two, maybe that helps us with other guys finding their game and are able to step it up.”</blockquote>
Depth scoring has been somewhat of an issue for Edmonton this season. The Oilers rank seventh in the NHL with 229 goals and only <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20242025&amp;thruseason=20242025&amp;stype=2&amp;sit=all&amp;score=all&amp;rate=n&amp;team=EDM&amp;vteam=ALL&amp;view=wowy&amp;loc=B&amp;gpfilt=none&amp;fd=2024-10-04&amp;td=2025-04-17&amp;tgp=2000&amp;strict=incl&amp;p1=8478402&amp;p2=8477934&amp;p3=0&amp;p4=0&amp;p5=0">74 of those goals</a> have been scored without either McDavid or Draisaitl on the ice. Getting offence from the likes of Nugent-Hopkins, Henrique, and Skinner will be very important come playoff time.
<blockquote>“I think everybody feels it,” <a href="https://x.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1904247553551691788">Nugent-Hopkins said</a>. “It’s a chance for everybody to step up and play their game and maybe play a little bit of a different role for certain guys. Obviously, you lose two of the best players in the game, we need to step up and we need to make sure that we’re sharp.&#8221;</blockquote>
The <a href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations">Oilers</a> have a 41-24-5 record, tied with the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division and five points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place. The Kings have one game in hand and the Golden Knights and Oilers have the same amount of games played.
They&#8217;ll host the Dallas Stars on <a href="https://oilersnation.com/schedule">Wednesday</a> and then they&#8217;ll head to Seattle to play the Kraken. After that, they&#8217;ll return home on Saturday to host the Calgary Flames. The big game on the calendar is next Tuesday&#8217;s match with the Golden Knights in Vegas. The hope is that the Oilers will be at full strength for that one.

The <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/monday-musings-oilers-health-issues-battle-home-ice-advantage">Edmonton Oilers</a> are undefeated in games without both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl this season.

It's been just one game and it came against the mediocre Seattle Kraken, but the Oilers put together a strong effort without their top two players on Saturday, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/ryan-nugent-hopkins-hat-trick-jeff-skinner-adam-henrique-edmonton-oilers">winning by a score of 5-4</a>.



Adam Henrique opened the scoring for Edmonton, burying his first goal since the beginning of March. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins led the way with three goals in the win and led forwards with just over 23 minutes of playing time. Jeff Skinner also sniped a goal and played a season-high 18:38 against Seattle.

With just about three weeks left until the playoffs start, the Oilers aren't going to take any risks to rush back their stars, even if it means falling out of the race for the top spot in the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/playoff-race-golden-knights-stretch-lead-pacific-division">Pacific Division</a>. While McDavid and Draisaitl appear <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/edmonton-oilers-connor-mcdavid-leon-draisaitl-miss-three-games-dallas-stars-seattle-kraken-calgary-flames">unlikely</a> to return to action this week, head coach Kris Knoblauch sees this stretch without them as an opportunity for other players to refine their game.
<blockquote>“We hope in the long run this is good for us,” <a href="https://x.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1904251237417300273">Knoblauch said</a>. “Connor and Leon, do we ever want them out of our lineup? No. Probably in the short term it’s harder for us to win games and move up in the standings and we want to win as many games as possible, but collectively for us as a team, we want to be at our best for the playoffs. That’s the most important thing, and this little break without having those two, maybe that helps us with other guys finding their game and are able to step it up.”</blockquote>
Depth scoring has been somewhat of an issue for Edmonton this season. The Oilers rank seventh in the NHL with 229 goals and only <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20242025&amp;thruseason=20242025&amp;stype=2&amp;sit=all&amp;score=all&amp;rate=n&amp;team=EDM&amp;vteam=ALL&amp;view=wowy&amp;loc=B&amp;gpfilt=none&amp;fd=2024-10-04&amp;td=2025-04-17&amp;tgp=2000&amp;strict=incl&amp;p1=8478402&amp;p2=8477934&amp;p3=0&amp;p4=0&amp;p5=0">74 of those goals</a> have been scored without either McDavid or Draisaitl on the ice. Getting offence from the likes of Nugent-Hopkins, Henrique, and Skinner will be very important come playoff time.
<blockquote>“I think everybody feels it,” <a href="https://x.com/EdmontonOilers/status/1904247553551691788">Nugent-Hopkins said</a>. “It’s a chance for everybody to step up and play their game and maybe play a little bit of a different role for certain guys. Obviously, you lose two of the best players in the game, we need to step up and we need to make sure that we’re sharp."</blockquote>
The <a href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations">Oilers</a> have a 41-24-5 record, tied with the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division and five points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place. The Kings have one game in hand and the Golden Knights and Oilers have the same amount of games played.

They'll host the Dallas Stars on <a href="https://oilersnation.com/schedule">Wednesday</a> and then they'll head to Seattle to play the Kraken. After that, they'll return home on Saturday to host the Calgary Flames. The big game on the calendar is next Tuesday's match with the Golden Knights in Vegas. The hope is that the Oilers will be at full strength for that one.

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