The numbers didn&#8217;t favour the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night paying visit to the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/11/29/oilers-game-notes-road-trip-begins-with-first-ever-trip-to-face-utah-hockey-club/">Utah Hockey Club for the first time.</a>

Teams in situations like they found themselves in, playing after five days off, had gone 74-93 over the last decade, winning just 44.3 percent of those games. Well, make that 75, as after facing a 2-0 deficit, the Oilers <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/11/29/instant-reaction-overtime-winner-from-ryan-nugent-hopkins-leads-oilers-to-win-over-utah/">mounted a comeback to get into the win column</a>.
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Edmonton appeared to have the jump in the first few minutes of the game, but that didn&#8217;t last long as Utah&#8217;s Alex Kerfoot and Logan Cooley would give them the lead heading into the intermission, while their club outshot the Oilers 12-5.
Things weren&#8217;t hunky dory in the Oilers locker room, as players held each other accountable for their poor performance in the opening frame.
&#8220;Sometimes there&#8217;s moments where it gets louder and where the uncomfortable things need to be said, unfortunately,&#8221; said Leon Draisaitl after the game, who reportedly led the conversations. &#8221; The one great part about our team is there&#8217;s never any finger pointing. If a guy decides to say something, he puts himself into that conversation as well. I think we&#8217;re a mature group that can handle those moments.&#8221;
Whatever was said worked, as the Oilers began building early in the second frame, leading to Vasily Podkolzin scoring his second goal in as many games, walking into the offensive zone and wiring a shot home. Edmonton kept their head down, drawing back-to-back power plays in which the Dynamic Duo, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, each scored. Suddenly, in game 23 of the season, the Oilers had scored two man-advantage goals in a game for the first time.
For those counting at home, in each of the last four seasons, the Oilers had scored two — or more — power play goals by game two of the regular season.
What did Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch see <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/11/29/gdb-23-0-welcome-to-utah-for-the-edmonton-oilers-7pm-mt-sportsnet/">different from the group</a>?
&#8220;Well, putting the puck in the net — that&#8217;s part of it. But they passed it around well,” he said. &#8220;It was very unpredictable.
&#8220;We had Connor on the right side, Connor on the left side. Leon in the middle, Leon on the right side. Nuggy moving around. There was a lot of nice little plays, and the McDavid goal, that&#8217;s obviously a nice shot, but Bouch does a really nice job to set that up with his deception to give him that pass, give him that little more time to get that shot.”
The Oilers continued to push through the third period, even though Lawson Crouse’s goal 3:42 into the period tied it back up, and this game would need overtime to be decided. There, it was one of the more snakebitten Oilers this season who would be the X-Factor: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
He would strip Mattias Maccelli — an Oiler killer with four goals in his previous seven against them — before firing a shot home past Karel Vejmelka.
&#8220;Nuggy is a clutch player,&#8221; said Draisaitl. He plays really well in tight games, and obviously for him to get rewarded&#8230; We probably get more excited than he does. Great play by him all around, nice goal.”
The Oilers now improve to 6-2-1 in their last nine games, with six of their 11 power play goals on the season coming in that stretch. There’s never been doubt that the man advantage would find its way for the Oilers, but it beginning to click now would be key.
So too would be Edmonton’s penalty kill continuing a promising trend, having now killed 17 straight, including one against Utah.
“Probably the power play, the power play getting two goals, and that&#8217;s the difference in the game,” said Knoblauch when asked what the key to the victory was. &#8220;We had an opportunity to win it on the power play, too. We did everything on that last one but put it in the net, and obviously a lot of credit to Podkolzin scoring that first one to give us a little momentum, and then definitely the special teams was the big one where the kill was good, and the power play was outstanding getting the two.&#8221;
Next up for the Oilers will be a game in a 12 and a half hours from the time this column went live, crossing state lines to Denver to visit a Colorado Avalanche team struggling to find their way.
<hr />
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff/streams">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">Nation Gear Black Friday Sale</h2>
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The numbers didn't favour the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night paying visit to the <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/11/29/oilers-game-notes-road-trip-begins-with-first-ever-trip-to-face-utah-hockey-club/">Utah Hockey Club for the first time.</a>



Teams in situations like they found themselves in, playing after five days off, had gone 74-93 over the last decade, winning just 44.3 percent of those games. Well, make that 75, as after facing a 2-0 deficit, the Oilers <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/11/29/instant-reaction-overtime-winner-from-ryan-nugent-hopkins-leads-oilers-to-win-over-utah/">mounted a comeback to get into the win column</a>.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2107" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="325"></div>
Edmonton appeared to have the jump in the first few minutes of the game, but that didn't last long as Utah's Alex Kerfoot and Logan Cooley would give them the lead heading into the intermission, while their club outshot the Oilers 12-5.

Things weren't hunky dory in the Oilers locker room, as players held each other accountable for their poor performance in the opening frame.

"Sometimes there's moments where it gets louder and where the uncomfortable things need to be said, unfortunately," said Leon Draisaitl after the game, who reportedly led the conversations. " The one great part about our team is there's never any finger pointing. If a guy decides to say something, he puts himself into that conversation as well. I think we're a mature group that can handle those moments."

Whatever was said worked, as the Oilers began building early in the second frame, leading to Vasily Podkolzin scoring his second goal in as many games, walking into the offensive zone and wiring a shot home. Edmonton kept their head down, drawing back-to-back power plays in which the Dynamic Duo, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, each scored. Suddenly, in game 23 of the season, the Oilers had scored two man-advantage goals in a game for the first time.

For those counting at home, in each of the last four seasons, the Oilers had scored two — or more — power play goals by game two of the regular season.

What did Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch see <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/11/29/gdb-23-0-welcome-to-utah-for-the-edmonton-oilers-7pm-mt-sportsnet/">different from the group</a>?

"Well, putting the puck in the net — that's part of it. But they passed it around well,” he said. "It was very unpredictable.

"We had Connor on the right side, Connor on the left side. Leon in the middle, Leon on the right side. Nuggy moving around. There was a lot of nice little plays, and the McDavid goal, that's obviously a nice shot, but Bouch does a really nice job to set that up with his deception to give him that pass, give him that little more time to get that shot.”

The Oilers continued to push through the third period, even though Lawson Crouse’s goal 3:42 into the period tied it back up, and this game would need overtime to be decided. There, it was one of the more snakebitten Oilers this season who would be the X-Factor: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

He would strip Mattias Maccelli — an Oiler killer with four goals in his previous seven against them — before firing a shot home past Karel Vejmelka.

"Nuggy is a clutch player," said Draisaitl. He plays really well in tight games, and obviously for him to get rewarded... We probably get more excited than he does. Great play by him all around, nice goal.”

The Oilers now improve to 6-2-1 in their last nine games, with six of their 11 power play goals on the season coming in that stretch. There’s never been doubt that the man advantage would find its way for the Oilers, but it beginning to click now would be key.

So too would be Edmonton’s penalty kill continuing a promising trend, having now killed 17 straight, including one against Utah.

“Probably the power play, the power play getting two goals, and that's the difference in the game,” said Knoblauch when asked what the key to the victory was. "We had an opportunity to win it on the power play, too. We did everything on that last one but put it in the net, and obviously a lot of credit to Podkolzin scoring that first one to give us a little momentum, and then definitely the special teams was the big one where the kill was good, and the power play was outstanding getting the two."

Next up for the Oilers will be a game in a 12 and a half hours from the time this column went live, crossing state lines to Denver to visit a Colorado Avalanche team struggling to find their way.

<hr />

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff/streams">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

<hr />

<h2 style="text-align: left;">Nation Gear Black Friday Sale</h2>
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Black Friday is HERE, Nation Citizens! 🏒 Score 15% off all your favourites, including the brand-new "My City" Collection and fresh drops you won’t want to miss. Whether you’re gifting a die-hard fan or upgrading your own game-day fit, Nation Gear has you covered. Spend over $200, and enjoy free shipping, too! 🛍️ But hurry—this one-week-only deal is live now! Shop exclusively at <a href="http://nationgear.ca">nationgear.ca</a> and make this holiday season unforgettable!
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The Day After 23.0: Special teams special as Oilers come from behind to beat Utah

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