<p>Congratulations! You&#8217;ve made it through another NHL pre-season.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Now, you get to watch 82 regular-season games, and if you&#8217;re lucky, a few dozen playoff games that will either leave you in pure elation or absolute heartbreak.</p>
<p>Ah, the beautiful game.</p>
<p>The good news is that this will be the last time, at least for a while, that we have to watch eight pre-season games. The <a href="http://oilersnation.com/combinations">Edmonton Oilers</a>, of course, could&#8217;ve chosen to play fewer games, but they like getting to see as many of the players in their system as possible.</p>
<p>It all came to a close <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/10/03/gdb-8-0-edmonton-oilers-vancouver-canucks-game-preview/">Friday night in Vancouver</a>, when the Oilers fell 3-2 to<strong> </strong>the <a href="http://canucksarmy.com">Vancouver Canucks</a> in overtime.</p>
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<p>Jonathan Lekkerimaki was the star for the Canucks, scoring two goals including the first of the game with 9.3 seconds left in the first frame.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">CANUCKS SCORRRRRRRRE<br />Jonathan Lekkerimäki rips a shot, served on a TEE by Braeden Cootes, that Pickard has no chance on. Canucks open the scoring late in the first.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> <br />🎥: Sportsnet | NHL <a href="https://t.co/Qyye8WFF38">pic.twitter.com/Qyye8WFF38</a></p>
<p>&mdash; CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1974304684874899956?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The Oilers fourth line would get to work late in the second period, as Kasperi Kapanen would let a similar shot to Lekkerimaki&#8217;s go, beating Thatcher Demko.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="ht" dir="ltr">Kasperi Kapanen blasts one past Demko to tie the game!</p>
<p>📹: <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet</a> <a href="https://t.co/939ASVYrvy">pic.twitter.com/939ASVYrvy</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1974315380740137047?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>One bright spot was the Oilers power play capitalizing. With Tom Willander in the box for holding Noah Philp, Evan Bouchard blasted a shot that was partially blocked by Teddy Blueger, only to deflect off Demko and right to Leon Draisaitl.</p>
<p>You can guess what happened next.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Oilers&#39; PP is looking swift. </p>
<p>2-1 EDM heading into the third period.</p>
<p>📹: <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet</a> <a href="https://t.co/4OSl7oaQUG">pic.twitter.com/4OSl7oaQUG</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1974317594464444765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Lekkerimaki&#8217;s second of the game looked a lot like the first, showing off a great one-timer that Pickard had no shot at.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="fi" dir="ltr">Jonathan Lekkerimäki ties it up.</p>
<p>📹: <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet</a> <a href="https://t.co/aOs5uDQcQj">pic.twitter.com/aOs5uDQcQj</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1974326373595689250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>And then there was the overtime winner. Conor Garland took the charge into the offensive zone, driving through three Oilers and beating Pickard.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Conor Garland wins it in OT for the Canucks, on the brightside pre-season is over! </p>
<p>📹: <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Sportsnet</a> <a href="https://t.co/v50mkW6T26">pic.twitter.com/v50mkW6T26</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 (@OilersNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1974332931792646330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h2>Takeaways&#8230;</h2>
<ul>
<li>The Oilers really struggled to stay out of the penalty box, especially in the third period, spending much of the third period on the kill. Ekholm&#8217;s holding call saw Lekkerimaki score his second, while Andrew Mangiapane and Leon Draisaitl continued the parade with roughing calls. This pre-season, the Oilers have spent the fifth most time on the penalty kill. It&#8217;s an area they&#8217;ll need to clean up when the games start to matter.</li>
<li><a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/10/03/edmonton-oilers-head-coach-kris-knoblauch-mult-year-contract-extension/">Kris Knoblauch</a> rolled four lines well all night long, with the top line leading the charge — as to be expected — generating five scoring chances in a little over 13 minutes of five-on-five ice-time.</li>
<li>Calvin Pickard looked better between the pipes than Wednesday&#8217;s game against the Seattle Kraken, but there wasn&#8217;t much effort on Garland&#8217;s game-winner. Can you blame him?</li>
<li>Here&#8217;s hoping the Oilers get healthy by next Wednesday. The team has been dealing with some kind of bug running through the room, prompting Pickard to start the last two games.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRSWOpthKmdtmFOKQDd7TQdTU2KSKXYvX">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on X at</span></i> <em><a href="http://www.x.com/zjlaing"><span style="font-weight: 400;">@zjlaing</span></a></em><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>,</em> or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.</span></i></p>
<hr />
<h2><strong>ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365</strong></h2>
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Congratulations! You've made it through another NHL pre-season.



Now, you get to watch 82 regular-season games, and if you're lucky, a few dozen playoff games that will either leave you in pure elation or absolute heartbreak.

Ah, the beautiful game.

The good news is that this will be the last time, at least for a while, that we have to watch eight pre-season games. The <a href="http://oilersnation.com/combinations">Edmonton Oilers</a>, of course, could've chosen to play fewer games, but they like getting to see as many of the players in their system as possible.

It all came to a close <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/10/03/gdb-8-0-edmonton-oilers-vancouver-canucks-game-preview/">Friday night in Vancouver</a>, when the Oilers fell 3-2 to<strong> </strong>the <a href="http://canucksarmy.com">Vancouver Canucks</a> in overtime.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2107" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="325"></div>
Jonathan Lekkerimaki was the star for the Canucks, scoring two goals including the first of the game with 9.3 seconds left in the first frame.

https://twitter.com/CanucksArmy/status/1974304684874899956

The Oilers fourth line would get to work late in the second period, as Kasperi Kapanen would let a similar shot to Lekkerimaki's go, beating Thatcher Demko.

https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1974315380740137047

One bright spot was the Oilers power play capitalizing. With Tom Willander in the box for holding Noah Philp, Evan Bouchard blasted a shot that was partially blocked by Teddy Blueger, only to deflect off Demko and right to Leon Draisaitl.

You can guess what happened next.

https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1974317594464444765

Lekkerimaki's second of the game looked a lot like the first, showing off a great one-timer that Pickard had no shot at.

https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1974326373595689250

And then there was the overtime winner. Conor Garland took the charge into the offensive zone, driving through three Oilers and beating Pickard.

https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/1974332931792646330
<h2>Takeaways...</h2>
<ul>
 	<li>The Oilers really struggled to stay out of the penalty box, especially in the third period, spending much of the third period on the kill. Ekholm's holding call saw Lekkerimaki score his second, while Andrew Mangiapane and Leon Draisaitl continued the parade with roughing calls. This pre-season, the Oilers have spent the fifth most time on the penalty kill. It's an area they'll need to clean up when the games start to matter.</li>
 	<li><a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/10/03/edmonton-oilers-head-coach-kris-knoblauch-mult-year-contract-extension/">Kris Knoblauch</a> rolled four lines well all night long, with the top line leading the charge — as to be expected — generating five scoring chances in a little over 13 minutes of five-on-five ice-time.</li>
 	<li>Calvin Pickard looked better between the pipes than Wednesday's game against the Seattle Kraken, but there wasn't much effort on Garland's game-winner. Can you blame him?</li>
 	<li>Here's hoping the Oilers get healthy by next Wednesday. The team has been dealing with some kind of bug running through the room, prompting Pickard to start the last two games.</li>
</ul>

<hr />

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRSWOpthKmdtmFOKQDd7TQdTU2KSKXYvX">DFO DFS Report</a>. He can be followed on X at</span></i> <em><a href="http://www.x.com/zjlaing"><span style="font-weight: 400;">@zjlaing</span></a></em><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>,</em> or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.</span></i>

<hr />

<h2><strong>ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365</strong></h2>
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Final pre-season tune up sees Oilers fall in overtime to Canucks: Recap, Highlights, and Reaction

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