It wasn’t easy, but now it’s one, two, three for the Edmonton Oilers.
After a rough start to the season following a Game 7 loss of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers, the Oilers came away with a narrow 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday that left them in first place in the Pacific Division. Division II in the Western Conference and third overall in the NHL with a 31-15-3 record.
“It’s huge to get first place,” said Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, who stopped 39 shots for the win, 35 of them in the final 40 minutes.
“We still have a lot of hockey games to play. We have such a close division that it’s still up for grabs, and the points are very close. For us, the mentality has to be, obviously it’s great to be in first place, but let’s try to get more From the points here and continue playing the same way we have been playing and hopefully we can continue it a little bit.
“The way we play says a lot about the group, how mature we are and how mentally flexible we are.”
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Edmonton is one point ahead of the lethargic Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division, and four points behind the leaders Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference.
The Oilers, who started the season 0-3 before finding their form, have won 10 of their last 13 games.
“Obviously our goal is to continue to collect points and get as high as we can,” said Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who led the way with two goals against the Sabers.
“It’s nice to see that. There is a long way to go and it is clear that the job does not end here. We can continue to improve, but after the start, we should not be satisfied, but rather happy with how far we have come.”
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said last year’s playoffs showed the importance of having home-ice advantage in a series.
“That’s the potential to make this road a little easier on us, whether it’s shortening a series or getting home ice in a Game 7 situation — we’ve been fortunate enough to win one Game 7 on the road, but we haven’t won a Game 7.” said another one. “It just helps you along the way to get to the top.”
Edmonton went 2-1 without the services of captain and star forward Connor McDavid, who served the final game of a three-game suspension for checking Vancouver’s Connor Garland a week ago.
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