Sunday Morning Standings Watch: Third Place!

Like a refreshing slice of spearmint gum, the Oilers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 4-1 margin on Saturday night. It was a spectacular game for the Oilers. Not only did they score some goals, they looked very good throughout the game. Edmonton put up 49 shots in the win. Connor McDavid scored a pair, while Leon Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto both had a goal each. Mikko Koskinen stopped 30 shots en route to his 21st win of the season, and just like that, the Oilers are back in third place.

I know, I kind of want to see it myself. It’s a cool, tingly feeling.

Things are working out for the Oilers right now. They’re on a two game win streak, with games against Washington and now Tampa Bay in the win column. (They’ve got Detroit on Tuesday, and it’d be just great if they could do what they can.) The Golden Knights are on a three game losing streak, including a 5-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Friday. The Sharks defeated the Kings, who remain four points ahead of the Oilers right now. Forget Calgary for now. The Oilers have a legitimate chance to challenge the Kings for second in the conference, but they’ll need to have some good showings against Detroit, Buffalo and New Jersey in the coming week.

The season is far from over. Edmonton has 23 more games to play, and they’ll still need about 96 points to get to the second season. They can breathe a little easier on a two game win streak, they’ll need to bring the Tampa energy into Detroit on Tuesday.