BLOG: Oilers building their game at practice ahead of Predators test

EDMONTON, AB - After a perfect week on the road, carrying that momentum into the start of a three-game homestand on Tuesday night is at the forefront of the minds of Oilers players and coaches.
The Oilers were on the ice for practice on Monday morning at Rogers Place for the first time since returning from a 3-0-0 road trip through St. Louis, Chicago and Calgary, where the Oilers found more ways than one to stretch their win streak to four and improve to 6-3-0 on the season.
Despite a positive first road trip of the season and a solid stretch of results dating back to a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins exactly one week ago, the Oilers recognize that their game is still very much a work in progress at this early stage of the season.
Monday's practice was the next opportunity to chip away at the lead domino to improve heading into tomorrow's test against the Nashville Predators.
"I don't believe that we're hitting on all cylinders yet," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said.
"I think there's a lot of room for growth in our game, but what I've really enjoyed is the work ethic of our players; the understanding that it's not all going perfectly right off the bat at the start of the season, yet we're finding ways to put wins on the board."

A dramatic, action-packed 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks last Thursday was sandwiched in between two tight-checking, closely-contested victories over the St. Louis Blue and Calgary Flames that the Oilers can be pleased with when it comes to how they limited their opponents.
Even against the Blackhawks, the way the Oilers showed resilience and responded to adversity can also be built upon despite some penalty trouble and extra factors over the 60 minutes of their victory.
"I think you look at the St. Louis game and the Calgary game, we checked really well," defenceman Darnell Nurse said. "We want that to be a staple of our game -- not giving up too my chances and capitalizing on the ones that we do get. Then in Chicago, we found a way to win a game that was a little bit of a different fashion, but those are good signs for us.
"Checking and keeping the puck out of our net is an emphasis we've talked about since the start of camp, so it's good to see that for a couple of games."
Nurse spoke to the strong collective checking that the Oilers displayed against Calgary which needs to become consistent over the course of the entire season, along with continuing to show strong penalty-killing after Edmonton was able to keep their opponents' powerplay output to zero for the first time in nine games this campaign.

The level of opposition over the course of the first month of the season tested Edmonton's limits in a positive way, and Tuesday's visit from the Nashville Predators will set the stage for the month of November and a three-game homestand that will see the Oilers hist the Predators, New Jersey Devils (Thursday) and Dallas Stars (Saturday).
"I thought in the month of October here, today is the last day of October, we've faced some really good competition and it's pushed us in new ways, in different ways, to come up with different types of solutions depending on the opponent," Woodcroft added.
Monday's practice marked the turning of the page for the Oilers into a new month on the calendar and a new slate of opponents that will continue to push them toward becoming a better version of themselves.
"We understand that the opponent that's coming in tomorrow is a really hardworking group. They have a lot of skilled players on that team and they're going to present a stiff challenge for us."
"That was what today was about -- making sure that we're going to be ready for tomorrow."
Get all of the day's written and video content below:
WRITTEN
Video: PRACTICE | Scary Good Practice 10.31.22
VIDEO
- PRACTICE | Scary Good Practice - RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft 10.31.22 - Stuart Skinner 10.31.22](https://www.nhl.com/oilers/video/raw--skinner-103122/t-277437406/c-13483931) - Leon Draisaitl 10.31.22](https://www.nhl.com/oilers/video/raw--draisaitl-103122/t-277437406/c-13483924) - RAW | Darnell Nurse 10.31.22