EDMONTON – Goals have not come especially easy this season for the Edmonton Oilers, but you wouldn’t have known that from their second-period outburst on Tuesday.
Connor McDavid had a pair of goals and Evan Bouchard added three assists as the Oilers exploded for five second-period goals to get past the sizzling Utah Mammoth 6-3.
Trailing 2-0 after a sloppy first period to the Mammoth, who came into the contest as one of the hottest teams in the league with a seven-game winning streak, the Oilers finally seemed to snap out of their season-starting stupor and looked more like the team that has advanced to the Stanley Cup final the last two campaigns.
“We kind of needed a bit of a wake-up in-between the first and second,” said veteran Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “I thought we responded well and kept it going from there. Obviously that first period, we have much more than that. It was good to see us respond.
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“We gave ourselves a little kick in the butt and went from there.”
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Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch said the first period left a lot to be desired.
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“We turned the puck over on line rushes, I counted them, 16 times,” he said. “You should be looking at two or three a period. We turned it over 16 times on the attack, which didn’t allow us to get any offensive zone time or to pressure them. It was really easy for them and we have to defend instead. It got much better in the next two periods. Guys went to work and it got better.
“We have to work. We can’t just show up and think our skill is going to take over and win us hockey games.”
Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm each had a goal and an assist, while Isaac Howard and Ty Emberson also scored for the Oilers (5-4-2) who snapped a two-game losing skid.
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Ekholm is hopeful that the second-period surge serves as an early-season turning point.
“I think everybody felt enough was enough,” he said. “I can go to myself, I haven’t liked my game at all the last five-six games. I don’t think many guys in here have. It was kind of coming to a point where OK, we need to start putting our work boots on. And kudos to us, we responded in that second period.
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“More important we found our game and that has to be the standard going forward. Everybody in this league is too good where you can just coast your way through a regular season. You have to put your work boots on. That’s number one and I think everybody realized that today.”
Poor starts to the season seem to be a hallmark of sorts for the Oilers.
“If you look back at it, since I’ve been here this has been the best start we’ve ever had,” said Ekholm, in his third full season with Edmonton. “In that sense, great. Obviously, we want to start better. I don’t know that recipe I guess, because I’ve been here three tries and none has worked. As long as we get into the playoffs, I am happy. But obviously yes, we want to have a better start.”
Jake Walman and Adam Henrique each picked up a pair of assists and Stuart Skinner registered 20 saves to collect the win in net for the Oilers.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
