Oilers gutsy Saturday win a sign team was built to contend for Cup

There were some early signs that the Edmonton Oilers many predicted to be among the Stanley Cup favourites were back in business on Saturday night, even if they had to hang on for dear life to record their second straight win.

Facing the surging Dallas Stars, a team on a four-game winning streak that had gone 12-2-1 in its last 15 and which welcomed Finnish star forward Mikko Rantanen to the lineup after a huge trade deadline deal on Friday, the Oilers staked a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes and held on for a 5-4 victory in an intense game.

Zach Hyman had a pair of goals and an assist, Connor McDavid had a goal and a helper, and Viktor Arvidsson and Connor Brown also scored for the Oilers (37-22-4) who have won three of their last four.

Hyman said the victory proved the Oilers are still a tough team to contend with.

"We're a team that's been through a ton of adversity," he said. "I'm not saying we've got our `A' game back by any means, I think there's a long way to go. But I wouldn't count out our group of guys that we have here, the experience that we have here. I think we're pretty confident in this group and we have a little stretch here to get to playing our best so that we're feeling good going into the playoffs."

Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 22 saves to net the win for the Oilers.

Edmonton's most significant trade deadline acquisition was defenceman Jake Walman, who played his first game as an Oiler after being dealt from the San Jose Sharks. Walman, who is having a career season with 33 points, made an immediate impact, springing Hyman with a beautiful long stretch pass for a breakaway goal.

The 29-year-old Toronto native said playing the Stars in such a tense affair was a far cry from how he has spent most of his season with the bottom-feeding Sharks.

"That's probably the biggest thing I noticed, the compete level. These guys are always on here. It's like a different level, and I'm just really excited to play at that level," Walman said. "Meaningful games, I think that was kind of almost like a pre-playoff game."

Walman also levelled Rantanen with a mid-ice hit late in the second period.

"I thought that was a heck of a start," said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch of Walman's debut. "The pass that he made on the Hyman goal, just the composure breaking the pucks out. The second period, he had that big hit in the offensive zone [on Rantanen], blocking the blue line, getting pucks through.

"There's so much we liked about his game. Sometimes as a player, you have that adrenalin and you're really excited about that one, but I think we'll see a lot of play like he did tonight, and that's why management thought very highly of him to trade for him, which I think is really going to pay off for us."

The most memorable moment of the game came when the Oilers went up 4-1 five minutes into the second period on a highlight-reel goal by their captain as McDavid zipped around Dallas defender Ilya Lyubushkin to earn a breakaway and then roofed a backhand shot past Oettinger for his 24th of the season. It was Edmonton's fourth goal on nine shots.

McDavid also hit the 80-point plateau for the ninth consecutive season. Only three players have achieved that mark in more consecutive campaigns than McDavid — Wayne Gretzky (13), Dale Hawerchuk (13) and Phil Esposito (11).

In addition, Leon Draisaitl picked up an assist on Edmonton's third goal to extend his points streak to 14 games, tying his career high.