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But after yet another poor start, Edmonton woke up in the second period, erupting for five goals in the middle frame to take a 5-3 lead. Veteran Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said the Oilers gave themselves “a kick in the butt” during the first intermission. “Obviously, we needed a bit of wake up in between the first and the second, and we had that a bit, and I thought we responded well and kept it going from there,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “But obviously that first period, we had much more than that, so it’s good to see us respond.” Edmonton has now trailed by at least two goals at some point in seven of its last eight games. In each of their last two home games, the Oilers have rallied from a two-goal deficit for a regulation win. McDavid Snaps Out of Funk In one night, McDavid tripled his 2025-26 goal output: the Oilers captain entered play on Tuesday with just one goal, the fewest he has ever scored in the first 10 games of a season in his NHL career. McDavid’s first goal of the game, and second of the season, came via a beautiful give-and-go with Nugent-Hopkins to put the Oilers ahead 5-3. Then, in the late stages of the third period, McDavid sealed the victory by scoring into an empty net with Vejmelka pulled for an extra attacker. Oilers fans hope Tuesday marks the start of a barrage from the superstar centre, who has struggled out of the gate the last three seasons. Before scoring twice against the Mammoth, McDavid had gone without a goal in 20 of his last 23 games during the month of October. Oilers Debut Alternate Jersey Tuesday marked the Oilers’ first time wearing their new alternate jersey in a game. The vintage-looking sweater, which was unveiled last month, will be used for just seven games this season. While the jersey received a pretty lukewarm response in Oil Country, it’s already appeared in as many wins as the Reverse Retro jersey that the Oilers wore in 2022-23. Edmonton had a 1-3-1 record in its Reverse Retro, which lasted only one season. Knoblauch Goes With 7-11 Lineup For the first time this season, Edmonton bench boss Kris Knoblauch dressed a team of 11 forwards and seven defencemen, as blueliner Troy Stecher replaced forward Curtis Lazar among the 18 skaters who played Edmonton’s previous game. This was only the 11th time since being named Oilers head coach in November 2023 that Knoblauch has deployed the “7-11” lineup. Edmonton is now 5-5-1 in those games. While the extra defenceman didn’t make much of an impact – Stecher logged a pretty uneventful 10:41 of ice time, second-fewest minutes on the team – Reid Wilkins of Edmonton Sports Talk speculated that Knoblauch will stick with seven defencemen for the Oilers’ next game, because the coach won’t want to tinker with a lineup that produced a win. The Oilers are back in action Thursday (Oct. 30), when they host the New York Rangers at Rogers Place.
