OilersNation has reported:

The Edmonton Oilers are the only NHL team without a regulation loss, opening the season 4-0-1 through five games and the first 13 days of the season. The start has come as the club’s leading players have produced far more offence than they did at the same point last year, while also helping Edmonton improve defensively.

The Oilers began last season 2-2-1 through five games and were 4-5-1 after 10. This time, Edmonton has 25 goals for and 17 against through five games, compared with 13 goals for and 13 against over the first five last season. The team conceded 13 goals in its first two games this year, then allowed four over the following three.

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard have been central to the change. Through five games last season, McDavid had seven assists, Draisaitl had three goals and four points, and Bouchard had no points. Together, they had three goals, 11 assists and 14 points.

This season, McDavid has three goals and 13 points, Draisaitl has three goals and nine points, and Bouchard has six goals and 12 points. Their combined totals are 12 goals, 22 assists and 34 points, increases of nine goals, 11 assists and 20 points over last year’s opening five games.

Their impact has also shown in five-on-five goal differentials. Bouchard is at 13-1, McDavid at 11-1 and Draisaitl at 9-1. Edmonton has allowed 10 goals at five-on-five through five games, nine of them in its first two contests. Last season the team allowed six five-on-five goals over its first five games, but scored only six of its own; Bouchard alone has six five-on-five goals this season.

Depth scoring has supported the leaders, though it has not been the main change in overall production. In the first five games last season, Andrew Mangiapane, with two goals, Trent Frederic, Adam Henrique, Curtis Lazar and Noah Philp combined for six goals. This season, Kasperi Kapanen, with two, Owen Michaels, with two, Frederic and Alex Formenton have also combined for six.

Vasily Podkolzin has five goals, one more than Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had at the comparable point last season. Defencemen Ryan Shea and Mattias Ekholm have each scored, two more goals than Edmonton’s defencemen managed over the first five games last season. The Oilers have received timely contributions from their supporting players, while the main increase in offence has come from McDavid, Bouchard and Draisaitl.

In San Jose, Josh Samanski and Isaac Howard combined to set up Ekholm for the opening goal. Formenton scored his first goal as an Oiler to make it 3-0 and put the game away. Michaels has also been a reliable presence, serving as a go-to faceoff option despite being a rookie and appearing comfortable in his own zone.

The club’s improved start has coincided with changes in how playing time is distributed. Edmonton’s top four defencemen have logged 455 minutes and 29 seconds combined through five games this season, compared with 431:30 at the same point last year. They are playing 4:48 more per game as a group, while the third pair is playing just over five fewer minutes per game.

Bouchard has played 124:19 this season, compared with 126:22 last year. Mattias Ekholm has logged 109:01, Ryan Shea 115:48 and Connor Murphy 106:22. All four are averaging more than 21 minutes per game. Jake Walman has averaged 14:47, while Shakir Mukhamadullin and Ty Emberson are averaging 11:37 and 11:27, respectively.

The time-on-ice figures for the remaining defencemen also differ between the seasons. Last year, Darnell Nurse played 104:22, Ekholm 105:10, Brett Kulak 95:36, Emberson 74:37, Troy Stecher 46:16 and Alec Regula 31:46 over the first five games. This season, Walman has played four games for 59:09, Mukhamadullin three for 34:22, and Emberson three for 33:42.

McDavid has played almost the same total time this season as he did last year under Kris Knoblauch, now averaging 23:57 per game compared with 23:50. He has spent more time on the penalty kill, averaging 2:09 per game against 1:34 last season, and has nearly doubled his point total over the first five games.

Draisaitl has played 106:49, or 21:22 per game, down from 116:49 and 23:22 last season. Last year, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins logged 95:49, Zach Hyman 20:33 in one game, Andrew Mangiapane 73:46, Kapanen 68:00, Frederic 67:46, Jack Roslovic 39:22 in three games, David Tomasek 65:22, Podkolzin 64:16, Matt Savoie 64:16, Henrique 62:10, Jason Dickinson 23:16 in two games, Noah Philp 21:46 in two games, Max Jones 41:01 in four games, Curtis Lazar 10:21 in one game and Isaac Howard 49:30 in five games.

This season, Podkolzin has played 95:46, Kapanen 88:22, Formenton 74:46, Mathieu Joseph 74:33, Filip Hallander 14:10 in one game, Colton Dach 40:07 in three games, Michaels 63:39, Isaac Howard 36:49 in four games and Samanski 31:07 in four games. The figures also show Frederic at 49:57, or 9:59 per game, compared with 67:46, or 13:33, last year. Henrique averaged 12:26 last season, while Samanski is under eight minutes per game this year.

With Nugent-Hopkins out, Podkolzin has taken on almost exactly the same amount of ice time. The middle lines are playing somewhat more, while the fourth line is playing substantially less. Frederic’s average has fallen by 3:33 a game, though he has appeared more engaged. One explanation offered before the season was that Knoblauch had not given him enough opportunity; another view is that Frederic’s lack of off-season training had a greater effect because of his foot speed.

McDavid has spent almost the same amount of time on the ice as last season, but has produced nearly twice as many points. His near-exclusive play alongside Draisaitl is one factor, and he also looks refreshed, while Bouchard has been outstanding on defence. The depth forwards have not received a major increase in minutes, but have made better use of their time.

The case for optimism includes the contributions from the depth and the improved defensive results over the past three games. The prominent difference from last season, however, is the production and all-zone play of McDavid, Bouchard and Draisaitl, which has helped reduce pressure on the players below them in the lineup.

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