The Edmonton Oilers put a halt to their two-game losing streak and picked up a huge two points in the Pacific Division playoff race as they defeated the Nashville Predators by a score of 3-1 at Rogers Place on Sunday (March 15) night.
Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and Matthew Savoie scored for Edmonton, while the Predators got their lone goal from Fedor Svechkov.
Goaltender Connor Ingram made 26 saves in a winning effort for the Olers. Nashville netminder Justus Annunen stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced.
Thanks to the victory, Edmonton’s record improves to 33-26-9. With 75 points, the Oilers sit third in the Pacific Division standings, one point back of the second-place Vegas Golden Knights (31-22-14) and two back of the division-leading Anaheim Ducks (37-27-3).
Strong Start Propels Oilers
This was one of the Oilers’ best 60-minute performances of the season, and it was keyed by a strong start, when Draisaitl scored on the power play just 3:12 into the first period. From that point on, Edmonton was in the lead.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Oilers’ 4-3 Victory Over Avalanche
It was a welcome reversal for the Oilers, who gave up the game-opening goals at 0:32 and 1:23 of the first period to the Colorado Avalanche last Tuesday (March 10) and the Dallas Stars on Thursday (March 12), respectively. Edmonton’s win percentage when scoring first this season is now .735 (from a record of 25-4-5), which ranks fourth among all Western Conference teams, and second among Pacific Division clubs.
In 32 career games against the Predators, Draisaitl now has an incredible 30 goals. Only Jarome Iginla has scored more career goals against Nashville, with 42 in 68 games.
Oilers Stick Up For Teammate
Barely over a minute after he scored, Draisaitl took a hard hit from Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt. He left the ice and limped back to the Oilers’ dressing room. He returned to the bench and stepped out on the ice during a stoppage in play to test how he felt, but did not play the rest of the game and was not on Edmonton’s bench for the final two periods.
While the hit from Wiesblatt wasn’t really dirty, the Oilers made sure he had to answer for it. First, Kasperi Kapanen slashed the Predators forward, then Trent Frederic threw Wiesblatt to the ice.
Kapanen and Frederic were both given two-minute minors for their transgressions, but the Oilers successfully killed off both penalties. And after the game, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch praised his team for sticking up for each other.
“I don’t mind killing those; you’re sticking up for your team,” Knoblauch said while speaking to media after the game. “You don’t want to take them too often, but if you never take those penalties, you probably have a pretty disconnected team, and sometimes, as painful as it is, sometimes it bites you, but for your team, you need some of that throughout the season.”
For a team that’s been mired in mediocrity like Edmonton has this season, anything galvanizing and unifying can be a huge positive. As for Draisaitl, Knoblauch didn’t seem overly concerned about the superstar centre being out for an extended period.
“The medical staff looked at him, and they were comfortable with him trying it out, and he went out, and he just didn’t feel quite right, so the fact that the medical staff said ‘it doesn’t seem too bad, no immediate red flags’ tells me that it shouldn’t be a really long injury,” Knoblauch said. “There might be some time off, but we’ll find out later.”
Ingram Continues to Solidify Role in Crease
During his pre-game media availability, Knoblauch said that Ingram “is our starting goalie, he’ll be getting the majority of the starts, as of now, until something changes.”
While Knoblauch’s words weren’t exactly shocking, given the recent struggles of Oilers netminder Tristan Jarry, they served as a strong statement, nonetheless.
Ingram rewarded his coach’s faith with another strong performance on Sunday, making a number of impressive saves. The veteran goaltender is now 3-1-0 with a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.53 and save percentage (SV%) of .897 in five starts this month. That represents a massive improvement from his prior seven appearances, which saw him go 2-3-0 with a 3.69 GAA and .850 SV%.
The Oilers only have one instance of playing games on back-to-back dates over the remainder of their 2025-26 season schedule, meaning they can lean heavily on Ingram so long as he continues to perform at his current level.
Expect Ingram to get the start again when the Oilers are next in action, at home on Tuesday (March 17) against the San Jose Sharks.
