PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canadiens

The Edmonton Oilers return home to host the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Place on Thursday night.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canadiens

EDMONTON, AB – Home against the Habs, then back on the road.

After grinding through an early-season five-game road trip on the East Coast, the Edmonton Oilers are back at Rogers Place on Thursday to play host to the Montreal Canadiens before they head out again – this time out West – for a weekend back-to-back against the Seattle Kraken and Vancouver Canucks.

"It was long, especially at the start of the season," defenceman Jake Walman said on Wednesday.

"Getting out on the road could be a good thing. We've got some new guys, new faces, and being on the road is good bonding. So a bunch of dinners, and it is what it is. Everybody kind of goes through long road trips, so that's just part of being in the NHL."

The Oilers picked up a much-needed 3-2 victory over the Senators to close out the road trip, ending a three-game losing streak by battling through the adversity of giving up two goals in 1:36 early in the third period before Walman marked his season debut with the decisive tally in overtime.

After missing the first six games with an injury sustained early in Training Camp, Walman teed up a slap shot on a rolling puck with the Oilers on the man advantage, tucking it under the crossbar past netminder Linus Ullmark after rookie Matt Savoie won the faceoff and Mattias Ekholm poked it into his path.

Walman pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back in celebration before dropping to one knee, standing up and stirring the Blue & Orange crowd at Canadian Tire Centre and the Oilers' bench into a frenzy before hitting the head wobble as he was mobbed on the ice by his teammates.

Known in the past for his goal celebrations, Walman was fairly hushed on the origins of Tuesday's celly, but he's seen a few people on social media who've found out where it's from. But he wasn't about to reveal the secret to the media after Wednesday's practice at Rogers Place.

"It's from somewhere," Walman said vaguely. "I'll let the fans figure out where that's from, and hopefully there'll be some edits or something... I've seen some people on social media get it right, so it's out there."

Overall, Walman is just happy to be back on the ice contributing after needing to be patient in making his season debut, with the 29-year-old having just recently signed a seven-year contract extension with the Oilers earlier this month with an average annual value of $7 million.

"It's gonna be a little bit of an adjustment," he said. "It will probably take a few games to get my feet under me, but it's nice being back with the guys. Just practicing and watching sucks, so I'd rather be a part of it and I'm just happy to be back."

In forward Adam Henrique's 1,000th NHL game on Tuesday, rookie Isaac Howard also potted his first NHL goal, while Stuart Skinner made 18 saves to register his 100th career victory to become the third-fastest goalie in Oilers franchise history to reach the mark (178 games).

It was an impressive showing from Edmonton's rookies in Howard and Savoie, who were both heavily involved in the victory. Savoie is still searching for his first NHL goal after having two great opportunities to score in the third period, but the 21-year-old won the vital faceoff in overtime to help set up Walman's winner and is growing more comfortable at the NHL level with each performance.

"That's the mindset – just stick with it," Savoie said. "Keep chipping away and keep looking to get opportunities and hopefully, one will come soon here. It's nice getting lots of looks and opportunities each game, so I've got to keep doing the right things and get to the right spots to put one in.

"I'm trying to bring energy night in and night out. Just be a contributor and be good on the penalty kill, so I'm looking to put some more wins together here."

There was a feeling of relief amongst Oilers' players on the team flight home to Edmonton, sensing that the win in the nation's capital could be an important building block in their season as they look to turn a corner from an up-and-down start heading into a tough all-Canadian clash against the Canadiens.

"That was big for us," Walman said. "Kind of what we wanted coming back. It was a happier plane ride that way, and we're just looking to carry that momentum back home."

"It was huge," added Savoie. "Definitely didn't want to lose four in a row there, so it was nice to get the win and have a good plane ride home. We're looking to build off that here."

The Canadiens are playing the first of back-to-back games in Calgary on Wednesday night before heading north to Edmonton, where they haven't won on the road since February 2, 2023. The Oilers have needed overtime to defeat the Canadiens in three of their past four meetings after splitting the season series in 2024-25, with Evan Bouchard scoring the winner on March 8 last season at Rogers Place.

Montreal shut out Edmonton 3-0 in their only trip to Bell Centre last season in mid-November, and the two teams will conclude this year's series on Dec. 14 when the Oilers play the second of back-to-back games after the Oilers visit the Maple Leafs.