{"id":607839,"date":"2026-04-16T11:11:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/607839\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:11:44","slug":"commitment-to-defence-has-edmonton-oilers-looking-like-possible-cup-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/607839\/","title":{"rendered":"Commitment to defence has Edmonton Oilers looking like possible Cup contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON \u2014 For 65 games the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> were just another mediocre team struggling to find a way into the NHL playoffs in the weak Pacific Division.<\/p>\n

Trade deadline acquisitions and a new-found dedication to defence, necessitated partly by the injury to star forward Leon Draisaitl<\/a>, turned around their fortunes and has them entering the playoffs looking like a team that might yet be capable of making the Stanley Cup final for a third straight season.<\/p>\n

Heading into Thursday\u2019s final night of the regular season, the Oilers sit second in the division, two points behind Las Vegas Knights and one ahead of Anaheim Ducks<\/a> and Los Angeles Kings<\/a>. The Oilers, who are home to the Vancouver Canucks<\/a>, could finish anywhere from first to fourth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge game for us, and we get to kind of choose our own fate and our own outcome here at the end of the year,\u201d defenceman Darnell Nurse<\/a> said after Wednesday\u2019s practice. \u201cIt\u2019s the position we\u2019ve put ourselves in and you want to make this last one count. The chance to play for home ice advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not, he added, that he puts a huge amount of stock in that advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, you go on the road, you\u2019re playing free to start. It\u2019s always nice to also start at home. You get the familiarity of being in your own rink and being around family and whatnot. So, I mean, each has its advantages.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Oilers showed improved defensive hockey down the stretch, the erratic plY they have exhibited all season has continued. Only twice this season did they win more than two straight games \u2013 a three-game streak in early March and then a five-game run March 24-April 2. Since that run, however, they are 1-3 and have given up 16 goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, it\u2019s all about consistency and doing it each and every night,\u201d Nurse said. \u201cI think over the course of the season, there\u2019s been, maybe not to the consistency we want, but there\u2019s been a lot of nights that we played hockey the way we wanted to play. It\u2019s been trending in the right direction here at the end of the year, and it\u2019s definitely where we want to be going in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

What has been inconsistent lately is the offence. Edmonton scored five goals in back-to-back games but then scored just once in its last two games.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know a lot of times it\u2019s luck,\u201d head coach Kris Knoblauch said of the scoring, adding that players have to recognize the checking is tighter this time of the year, there are less openings offensively and players have to \u201cpay a price\u201d to get goals.<\/p>\n

The offence will get a boost when Zach Hyman<\/a>, a regular winger for captain Connor McDavid<\/a>, returns to the lineup for Thursday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cZach felt comfortable getting a game in before he hits the playoffs,\u201d said Knoblauch. \u201cSo, I think that\u2019s a good idea. Put him in, see what he can do. Obviously, it\u2019s not just him finding his game, getting ready for the playoffs. Tomorrow\u2019s a very important game for us and he will help us win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injuries still remain a concern for Edmonton. Draisaitl has been out since mid-March with a lower-body issue and says he won\u2019t be ready for the first game of the playoffs, but perhaps during the first round.<\/p>\n

Max Jones<\/a> and Jason Dickinson<\/a> are day-to-day. Knoblauch said there\u2019s a chance Dickinson may be ready for the first game but that likely won\u2019t be determined until Friday when the doctors assess him after he skates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s ready to play, he\u2019s itching to get back into the lineup and trust me I want him in,\u201d Knoblauch said.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

John Korobanik, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 For 65 games the Edmonton Oilers were just another mediocre team struggling to find a way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752,82],"class_list":["post-607839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-edmonton","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607839","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=607839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}