Since their last meeting, the Oilers are 6-1-0 in their last seven games, coming off a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning where Leon Draisaitl's game-winner in the second period made him the first player to reach 20 goals in the NHL this season – beating out Florida's Sam Reinhart, Colorado's Mikko Rantanen and Kaprizov as well.
Connor McDavid scored another highlight-reel goal to make it goals in back-to-back games, making it 28 points (11G, 17A) in 15 games for the Oilers captain since he returned from injury on Nov. 6 – leading all players over that span.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 21 of 22 shots to earn the win and has been excellent as of late, recording a 4-1-0 record with a 1.41 goals-against average, a .947 save percentage and 4.85 goals saved above expected (GSAx) over his last five starts.
After letting in five goals on 22 shots in a matchup vs. the Lighting one year ago, Skinner spoke about his growth over the past season both on and off the ice – a lot of personal growth for the Edmonton-born goaltender who was on the cusp of being named to Canada's team for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
"The amount of things that I've been able to go through personally, and obviously as a team over the last 12 months have been crucial in the sense of where I am now as a man, as a father, as a goalie in so many ways," he said. "So I'm just going to continue to keep on growing as a human being and keep on doing my best."
