Raffaele Papaianni
Apr 2, 2026
It wasn't pretty, but it counts the same.
The Oilers beat the Blackhawks 3 to 1 Thursday night at Rogers Place. That's five straight wins and now they're tied for first in the Pacific with Anaheim at 87 points. Edmonton controlled most of the night, outshooting Chicago 38 to 18, but had to stay patient before breaking through.
Adam Henrique finally got one. He opened the scoring at 5:32 of the second on a breakaway, cashing in a backhand after the initial chance. First goal in 51 games. You could see what it meant to him right away.
Matt Savoie kept it going not long after, making it 2 to 0 with his 15th of the year and fourth in his last five games. Since moving up with Connor McDavid, he's been flying. Had another one wiped out on a tight offside, but didn't slow him down.
"He's figured out the defensive side first, and you can obviously see the offence is starting to come now. He moves so well and when you have an engine like his it allows you to extend plays and keep pucks alive." — Connor McDavid on Matt Savoie
Chicago made it interesting late when Nick Lardis got one back, but Vasily Podkolzin sealed it with the empty netter.
Tristan Jarry was steady again with 17 saves, and the defence keeps showing up. Just eight goals against during this five game run. Darnell Nurse and company have been locking it down.
What makes it more impressive, they're doing this without Leon Draisaitl, who's expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Since the Olympic break, they're 11 and 6 and 1 and starting to look like a team built for playoff hockey.
As for the race at the top, McDavid's not overthinking it.
"Just putting the X beside our name is the main thing. Just getting in, that's our main focus. We can start a series on the road, we can start a series at home. We're pretty comfortable either way." — Connor McDavid
Vegas is in Saturday.
