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Published Oct 24, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n By Shane Jones<\/p>\n EDMONTON \u2014 It hasn\u2019t felt like it at times, but the Edmonton Oilers are off to their best start in the last three years.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Recommended Videos<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Edmonton won a wild one on Thursday as Vasily Podkolzin scored the game winner with just over a minute remaining and added an assist as the Oilers mounted a third-period comeback to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 6-5.<\/p>\n David Tomasek, Adam Henrique, Andrew Mangiapane, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers (4-3-1) who have won two in a row.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n By contrast, through their first eight games of 2023, the Oilers were 2-5-1, and in 2024 they were 3-4-1. Both seasons ended with trips to the Stanley Cup final.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re sitting here at 4-3-1, there have been some seasons with a lot tougher trekking from game eight,\u201d said Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse, who picked up a pair of assists Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cWith that said, I think our group knows we have to be a lot better. We came with an emphasis in camp and the start of the year that we want to have a good start. Fortunately, we are in a position here where we do have a winning record here and we can build on it. It\u2019s grabbing it now as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n The Oilers seemed fortunate to gain the win over the Habs.<\/p>\n Despite seemingly being outplayed, Edmonton grabbed a 3-1 lead midway through the second period.<\/p>\n The Winnipeg Sun’s Daily Headline News<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The lacklustre play caught up with the Oilers late in the second as Montreal came storming back with three goals in less than two minutes to knot it up, including a pair by Cole Caufield.<\/p>\n Montreal took a 5-3 lead before Edmonton mounted their own quick comeback, scoring a pair of power play markers in a span of 58 seconds just past the midway mark of the third.<\/p>\n Podkolzin then played hero, sending a backhanded shot in while falling to his knees for his first goal of the season with just 1:09 remaining on the game clock.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been there a million times, and the guys have been there a million times,\u201d Podkolzin said. \u201cDown by two for the Oilers is nothing, I guess. And the guys have proved it a million times. It wasn\u2019t a great feeling, we didn\u2019t play well defensively and we\u2019ve got to play much better as a top team. But finding a way to get two points was good.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Edmonton\u2019s second power-play goal came on an unsportsmanlike conduct call to Josh Anderson right after Draisaitl scored on the man advantage. Temperatures were high in the Montreal dressing room about the call.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still trying to figure that out,\u201d Caufield said. \u201cI think the refs kind of took over the game there and kudos to them for winning it.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the victory, the Oilers know they still have a lot of work to do.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just wasn\u2019t good enough,\u201d said Nugent-Hopkins. \u201cWe took advantage of some power plays at the end that we scored on, and then a really big one there by Podz. It was a good battle. I thought we started to push at the end, but I would say for most of the game it was not our standard.\u201d<\/p>\n Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch echoed the sentiment.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe the last 10 minutes of the game, it looked like we were a team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe played well. But the first 50 it was disorganized, it was a lack of work. It didn\u2019t look very good.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of things to clean up. We can only get better right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Oilers captain Connor McDavid picked up three assists in the contest and Tomasek recorded his first career NHL goal in his seventh game.<\/p>\n The 29-year-old native of Prague previously played for Farjestads BK Karlstad in the Swedish Elite League, and led that league in points with 57 in 47 games last season.<\/p>\n This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2025.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links PMN Author of the article: Published Oct 24, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read You can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-236178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.8.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-wsun-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
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