Oilers Get Two Cracks at Revenge

Some of us are unfortunate enough to run into our exes at the mall, or at a friend’s wedding. Some of us are stupid enough to creep our exes’ social media profiles. Some of us are even more foolish, and go full High Fidelity and reach out to our exes. Maybe it’s an Instagram message, or an ill-advised text.

You ask yourself if the new boyfriend/girlfriend is better looking than you, smarter than you, makes more money than you.

This week, the Edmonton Oilers play the two teams that dumped on their Stanley Cup dreams over the past couple of seasons. The Vegas Golden Knights visit on Saturday, then the Florida Panthers come in Monday night for a rematch of June’s Stanley Cup final.

They dumped the Oilers, and they both got their hands on the Stanley Cup.

And, after a meh start to the season, the Oilers have won seven of their last eight, including Thursday’s 7-1 thumping of the league-topping Minnesota Wild in St. Paul.

And this is the weekend where we show that we’ve moved on, that we’re just fine.

“We have some good games coming up,” said Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl before the Oilers went into the Twin Cities and played their best game of the season. “Those games are fun. We want to be one of those teams, and we are one of those teams.”

Look in the mirror. I am good enough. I am strong enough. I am worthy.

“I think it brings a certain amount of energy and a certain amount of focus, too — just because you know you’re going up against big teams,” said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner.

Like Game 7 of that Stanley Cup final against Florida — where the Oilers lost 2-1, a game you remember with the same kind of clarity of the first time you’ve ever got the “it’s not you, it’s me” talk — Skinner expects the rematch/revenge games to be close. Doing well in those tight games sets them up to be the kind of team that will be there in the end. We know from Oilers seasons past that October and November are just a sort-of extended preseason. December is when it starts to get serious.

“It kind of tells you where we are as a team when it comes to playing tight games,” said Skinner. “You’re up by one goal, you’ve got to kind of snuff out a team for the last 20 minutes, how are we going to be able to do it? A lot of lessons learned, and a lot of moments where we are going to be able to see what we’re capable of.”

But, when you do run into that ex, you want to show off something new. Something that signifies you’re a better person than you were before he/she/they left. Maybe it’s a new haircut, tattoo or career.

With the Oilers, what’s really emerged during the hot streak is the play of Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson. There were a lot of questions about the five-six spots in the defensive rotation going into the season. Emberson was brought in from San Jose, and has taken time to gel with his new team. Stecher was acquired last season, but spent most of his first season as an Oiler watching from the press box.

Now, Stecher and Emberson are playing regularly, and they’re getting significant minutes and making significant contributions. Emberson was excellent in the win over Minnesota, with an assist and a fight, but he’s getting 15-16 minutes a game. Stecher has goals in two of the Oilers past three games. The fact that the two of them are having such an excellent stretch of play at this point of the season may pay big dividends down the road. It ensures the Oilers aren’t putting too much wear and tear on the top defensive pairing of Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard.

“I think it’s in a good spot right now,” Emberson said after the win over the Wild. “I think, as the season has gone on, I’ve built some confidence up and finding ways to contribute, whether it’s on the PK or just playing hard five-on-five.”

The Wild are done, and now it’s time for the Oilers to face their demons. Bring on Knives Chau and Envy Adams.