5 Takeaways From Oilers’ New Year’s Eve Victory Over Utah – The Hockey Writers Edmonton Oilers Latest News, Analysis & More

The Edmonton Oilers closed out 2024 on a winning note Tuesday (Dec. 31) night, defeating the Utah Hockey Club 4-1 at Rogers Place.

Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Troy Stecher all scored for the Oilers, while Jack McBain had Utah’s lone goal. Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner made 26 saves, while Utah’s Jaxson Stauber stopped 34 of the 37 shots he faced.

The win was very much needed for the Oilers, who dropped both of their games on a brief California road trip last weekend. Edmonton is now tied with the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division, with 47 points apiece.

Knoblauch Shuffles the Deck

After watching Edmonton blow leads in losses to the Kings on Saturday (Dec. 28) and Anaheim Ducks on Sunday (Dec. 30), Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch made changes to his lines to start Tuesday’s game.

Connor Brown swapped places with Nugent-Hopkins, as Brown moved up from Edmonton’s third line to play on its top line alongside centre Connor McDavid and winger Zach Hyman. Then Knoblauch moved Nugent-Hopkins back to the top line, replacing Hyman.

It remains to be seen if these trios stick together for more than a couple periods, but they did prove successful on Tuesday. Brown and McDavid each finished the game with two assists and a rating of plus-2. They both assisted on Nugent-Hopkins’ goal at 4:53 of the second period, which would prove to be the game-winner.

Oilers Stay Strong From Start to Finish

This was one of the most complete efforts by Edmonton in quite a while. Even during their recent hot streak, when they won eight of nine games going into the Christmas break, the Oilers rarely went a full 60 minutes without lapsing.

On Tuesday, Edmonton jumped ahead early when Ekholm put the puck past Stauber just 4:26 into the game. And even though Utah quickly got that goal back, with McBain scoring 94 seconds later, the Oilers stayed on the front foot, finishing the first period with 15 shots.

The Oilers ratcheted things up in the middle frame, outshooting Utah 17-6. Only 20 seconds after Nugent-Hopkins restored Edmonton’s lead, blueliner Stecher scored at 5:13 of the second period to put the home team ahead 3-1.

Far too often the Oilers have taken their foot off the gas when they take a two-goal lead, including Sunday against Anaheim when a 3-1 lead turned into a 5-3 defeat.

That was not the case on Tuesday, as Edmonton allowed Utah just 15 shots over the final 35 minutes of the game. Draisaitl scored into an empty net at 18:58 of the third period to finish things off.

Milestone Stats for Oilers Stars

Draisaitl’s goal was the 47^th empty-net point of his career, surpassing Wayne Gretzky for the all-time franchise lead in that category. It also gave him 906 career regular season points, moving into a tie with Glenn Anderson for the fifth most in Oilers’ regular season history.

With two assists, McDavid increased his career regular season points total to 1,036, moving ahead of Mark Messier for third most in franchise history. Edmonton’s captain now has 670 career even-strength points, tying Messier for third place all-time on the Oilers.

Nugent-Hopkins recorded three shots, giving him 2,164 in his career, two more than Jari Kurri for sixth most all-time in Edmonton’s NHL regular season history.

Four-Hit Wonders

If there was one thing about Edmonton’s game on Tuesday that would give pause to Oilers fans, it’s the hit total: The Oilers were credited with just four of them on Tuesday, and only two players, Stecher and forward Kasperi Kapanen, recorded hits, two each.

That total is tied for the second-fewest hits by Edmonton in a game since the NHL began officially tracking them in 2005. The Oilers have now played 1,524 regular season games over that span and recorded less than five hits just six times, with two of them coming in the last week and a half; they also had four hits in a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 21.

Related: Oilers’ Hit Totals Have Declined Dramatically This Season

This is a troubling trend for the Oilers, who currently rank dead last in the NHL with an average of 13.11 hits per 60 minutes. The Oilers averaged 22.62 hits per 60 minutes last season, before making their run to the Stanley Cup Final.

New Year’s Eve Is No Longer a Nightmare

From when they first joined the NHL in 1979 through 2022, the Oilers played 23 games on New Year’s Eve and won only three of them.

But after smashing the Ducks 7-2 at Honda Center on Dec. 31, 2023, then decisively beating Utah on Tuesday, Edmonton has won New Year’s Eve games in consecutive years for the first time in franchise history.

In fact, going back to 2019, the Oilers are 3-1-1 in their last five games on Dec. 31. Those three wins are more than Edmonton had on New Year’s Eve over its first 40 years in the NHL.

The Oilers are now off for a couple days before returning to action to host the Ducks on Friday (Jan. 3). They will be looking to avenge their loss in Anaheim from just five days earlier.