Oilers Prove They Can Win When McDavid Is Not Producing – The Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the last couple months, and they just keep on rolling. On Saturday (Jan. 11), Edmonton rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the host Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 at United Center. Forwards Adam Henrique, Zach Hyman, Corey Perry and Vasily Podkolzin scored for the Oilers.

Related: 5 Takeaways From Oilers’ 4-3 Win Over Blackhawks

Edmonton is now 5-1-0 in its last six games, and Oilers captain Connor McDavid has exactly three points total in those five wins. He has been held without a point in three of the Oilers’ last four wins. Those are astonishing stats, considering he has averaged more than 1.7 points per game over the past five years.

McDavid Is Averaging Fewer Points This Season

McDavid’s production is down overall this season. After Saturday, the superstar centre is now averaging less than 1.5 points per game and is on pace to finish the season with fewer than 120 points for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign.

These observations are not intended to be in criticism of McDavid. Even with a reduction in his goals and assists, he is still putting up numbers that all but a very few players could even dream of achieving. Rather, these observations are meant to demonstrate something of great importance for the Oilers: that they can win without McDavid having to play like a superhuman every game.

Many Oilers Are Stepping Up Lately

In Edmonton’s four victories since New Year’s Day, a dozen Oilers have totalled at least two points. That list includes the likes of Brett Kulak, Kasperi Kapanen, and Darnell Nurse, but not McDavid.

McDavid went pointless as the Oilers defeated the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Jan. 3 and beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Jan. 4. It was the first time with McDavid in the lineup that the Oilers have won back-to-back games in which he did not record a point.

On Saturday, the Oilers even managed to win a game without either McDavid or the league’s leading goal scorer, Leon Draisaitl, lighting the lamp. That’s happened on only three occasions in 2024-25, all since U.S. Thanksgiving.

When Edmonton stumbled out of the gate in October, starting the season with a 2-4-1 record, Draisaitl and McDavid accounted for nearly half of the team’s total goals over its first seven games. Now a lot more players are chipping in.

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