EDMONTON — Scoring hasn't come particularly easy for the Edmonton Oilers this season, but you wouldn't know it from their outburst in the second period on Tuesday.
Connor McDavid scored a pair of goals and Evan Bouchard added three assists as the Oilers exploded, scoring five goals in the second period to top the sizzling Utah Mammoth 6-3.
Trailing 2-0 after a dismal first period to the Mammoth, which entered contention as one of the hottest teams in the league with a seven-game winning streak, the Oilers finally seemed to have broken out of their early-season funk and began to look more like the team that reached the Stanley Cup Final in the last two campaigns.
“We kind of needed to wake up a little bit between Game 1 and Game 2,” Oilers veteran forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “I thought we responded well and kept at it. Obviously we had a lot more going for us in the first period than that. It was good to see how we responded.”
“We gave ourselves a little kick in the butt and moved on.”
Edmonton head coach Chris Knoblauch said the first period left much to be desired.
“We turned the puck over on our rushes, I counted them 16 times,” he said. “You have to look at two or three games per period. We turned the game over 16 times offensively, which didn't allow us to get any time in the offensive zone or put pressure on them. It was really easy for them and we have to defend instead. It got a lot better in the next two periods. The guys went to work and it got better.”
“We have to work. We can't just come in and think our skills are going to take over and win us hockey games.”
Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm each had a goal and an assist and Isaac Howard and Ty Amberson also scored for the Oilers (5-4-2), who snapped a two-game skid.
Ekholm hopes the surge in the second period will be a turning point early in the season.
“I think everyone thought I’d had enough,” he said. “I can go on my own, I haven't liked my play in all of the last five or six games. I don't think a lot of the guys here have liked it. It kind of got to the point where we need to start putting our work boots on. And kudos to us, we responded in the second period.”
“More importantly, we've found our game and that should be the standard going forward. Everyone in this league is too good to just fight your way through the regular season. You've got to put on the work boots. That's number one, and I think everyone realized that today.”
A poor start to the season seems to be something of a hallmark for the Oilers.
“If you look back since I've been here, it's been the best start we've ever had,” said Ekholm, in his third full season with Edmonton. “It's great in that sense. Obviously we want to start better. I guess I don't know the recipe because I've been here three times and none of them worked. As long as we get to the playoffs, I'm happy. But obviously, yeah, we want to have the best start.”
Jake Wallman and Adam Henrique each had a pair of assists, and Stuart Skinner made 20 saves to earn the Oilers a clean sweep.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2025.
