Nugent-Hopkins scored just his second five-on-five point of the season away from Connor McDavid. It’s been an unusu

The Edmonton Oilers are second in the Pacific Division, and they have Leon Draisaitl to thank for that. While their 27-13-3 record through 43 games was largely expected, how they got there has been somewhat surprising.

Nugent-Hopkins notched a power-play assist, two PIM and two blocked shots in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Canucks. Nugent-Hopkins has earned four goals and three assists over nine outings in a productive January.

When Leon Draisaitl won his first Hart Trophy in 2019-20, he made his case during a stretch when teammate Connor McDavid was out with an injury. The Oilers had missed the playoffs in back-to-back years in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and found themselves back in the mix in 2019-20 after a hot start to the season.

The difference in the game was great goaltending from Washington’s Logan Thompson — who was strangely left off of the Team Canada roster — and the fact that the Edmonton power play without McDavid was anemic, with not one Grade A shot in three opportunities.

How does a team replace Connor McDavid in their lineup? That’s an easy question — They don’t. With the team’s captain serving the first game of a three-game suspension for cross-checking, Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said it’ll take a community approach to handle playing without McDavid.

The Oilers will adjust their lineup for the first of his three games without Connor McDavid due to suspension on Tuesday at Rogers Place against the Capitals

The Capitals as a team lead the NHL with an impressive 31-10-5 record, having earned a point in 10 straight games (7-0-3). Washington will be seeking revenge against the Oilers for taking both games in the season series by a 12-2 goal margin. The two sides wrap up their season series on Feb. 23 in Washington.

The Capitals have taken a more aggressive stance with their penalty kill this season and seen huge improvements as a result.

Thanks to Schenn’s two goals, Kyrou’s goal of his own and Holloway’s pair of assists, the line combined for five points in another important win over Calgary on Thursday night.

The top unit of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard, and Zach Hyman are still spearheading a sharp unit as the Oilers rank No. 8 overall in power-play efficiency, but they ended last season at No. 4.

Edmonton is in the market to bolster its blue line and its reportedly leading the race to land a marquee free-agent defenseman. John Klinberg is nearing return from resurfacing surgery that he had in 2023 and a decision is expected to be made within the next two weeks per NHL insider Darren Dreger.