We\u2019re so spoiled with the Oilers\u2019 power play, aren\u2019t we? Even though the team is still comfortably in first place in PP success, the boys have stumbled into a 2-for-24 over the last nine games. Obviously, the power play was going to take a hit without Leon Draisaitl available in his office on the right side, but I\u2019m honestly surprised that it\u2019s been this much of a grind lately. Again, I know that Leon is the business end of many, many PP goals, but we\u2019re going to need someone else to figure out how to get some pucks over the line. But to this point, that\u2019s been more of a wish than an expectation.<\/p>\n
I mean, life would have been a whole lot easier had the Oilers<\/a> not struck out on all three of their power play opportunities. That\u2019s not to say that there were some quality chances, nor am I ignoring Lukas Dostal being the Ducks\u2019 best penalty killer, but we gotta find a way to bear down here a little more. Yet, at the same time, I don\u2019t really know what the solution is. Do you have to come up with a few different looks and plays that you wouldn\u2019t normally run to try and open up a cross seam pass for a one-timer on either the right or left side? Do you overload the net and hope someone can clean up some garbage? Either way, teams are clearly looking for Bouchard to be the shooter with Draisaitl on the shelf, and we\u2019re going to need some kind of adjustments for the last eight games.LOCKING THE GAME DOWNI won\u2019t lie to you, friends. I was feeling pretty confident when the Oilers were up by a field goal with just under 14 minutes to go. Even though we\u2019ve been burned by third period collapses on more than a few occasions this season, I thought the boys so handily had this game in the bag that I started making my win memes for the Nation\u2019s Instagram account. Needless to say, that was not the case. Instead, the Ducks pumped two goals past Connor Ingram<\/a> in a span of just under three minutes. Not exactly the stress-free wrap to the game that you\u2019d draw up on the board, you know?<\/p>\n Even though Anaheim wasn\u2019t able to get closer than being down by one goal, wouldn\u2019t it have been cool if the Oilers could have just shut things down without letting them get close? I know that\u2019s easier said than done, but there have been a whole lot of stressful moments over the last few games with our side coughing up leads to both Vegas and Anaheim. No, you can\u2019t always expect smooth sailing to locking down wins, but it sure would be nice to cruise to the finish line every now and then. Then again, maybe battling through some adversity down the stretch is exactly what this team needs as we head into the playoffs. If we look at things that way, finding ways to win even though the other team is pushing hard can only serve us well. Dare to dream?<\/p>\n CHASING DOWN THE PACIFIC DIVISIONBy beating the Ducks in regulation, the Oilers pulled themselves to within three points of the division lead<\/a> with eight games to go. Yes, Anaheim has that game in hand, but we\u2019re in a much better spot right now than we would have been if our boys had lost and been down by seven. Winning in regulation put Edmonton right back in the mix. I don\u2019t know that many of us would have expected that with the way things were going just a couple of weeks ago.If the Oilers can keep playing this well over the last couple of weeks of the season<\/a>, I don\u2019t see any reason they can\u2019t put themselves in a position with a real chance at their first division title since 1987. That might have sounded like a pipe dream not that long ago, but the math is starting to swing back in their favour, and more importantly, so is the way they\u2019re playing. The details are getting tighter. The effort is there every night. And even without Leon Draisaitl in the lineup<\/a>, this group is finding ways to win games that they probably weren\u2019t a month ago. That\u2019s the part that gives me the most confidence.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t about scoreboard watching or hoping Anaheim stumbles. It\u2019s about taking care of your own business and putting pressure on the team ahead of you. If the Oilers can keep stacking wins, keep playing with this level of urgency, and keep getting contributions up and down the lineup, they\u2019re going to make things very uncomfortable for anyone sitting above them in the standings. There\u2019s still work to do, no question, but for the first time in a while, it actually feels like the door is open. Now it\u2019s on them to walk through it.<\/p>\n The Nation Playoff Draft Party \u2014 Team Sign-Up Now Open![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774818328_219_image.webp\"\/)
<\/a>Edmonton hockey fans \u2014 think you and your crew know playoff hockey? Prove it at the\u00a0Nation Playoff Draft Party\u00a0on\u00a0Friday, April 17th at the River Cree Resort & Casino.\u00a0Build your playoff roster, compete against other teams throughout the postseason, and battle for\u00a0$2,500 cash and Nation bragging rights.\u00a0Team entry is\u00a0$1,000 for groups of 8, which includes dinner and your first bevy. The night will be hosted by\u00a0Ryder & Lisa from The Sauce\u00a0and\u00a0Tyler & Liam from ON Everyday, so expect plenty of energy, competition, and chirps.\u00a0Spots are limited \u2014 sign your team up now at\u00a0nationgear.ca<\/a>.\u00a0All proceeds from the event support\u00a0KidSport Edmonton, helping ensure local kids can stay in the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oilers power play struggles, locking the game down, and chasing the Pacific Division lead After a massive OT…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":{"0":"post-569381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569381","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=569381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}