Edmonton Oilers v Buffalo Sabres

The Edmonton Oilers begin a four-game road trip at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Monday against the Sabres.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 5:00 pm MDT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880 CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game & Post-Game Shows, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content, including The Drop documentary series.

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      The Oilers hold off the Stars in a 5-4 win on Saturday night

      BUFFALO, NY – A chance to build more chemistry and confidence after the Deadline.

      There’s room to keep growing for the Edmonton Oilers and lots of runway left in the regular season for them to do it before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin as they journey to Buffalo to open a four-game road trip on Monday night with a visit to KeyBank Center to face the Sabres.

      With the group locked in for the remainder of the regular season and a 5-4 victory over the Dallas Stars already under their collective belt, the Oilers are looking to solidify their details over the final 19 games of the campaign and make a strong push for first place the Pacific Division before embarking on hopefully another long post-season run.

      "I think there's a long way to go, but I wouldn't count out our group out with the experience we have here," Zach Hyman said on Saturday. "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."

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          Hyman scores twice in a 5-4 victory over the Stars on Saturday

          Following a five-game losing streak at the end of February, the Oilers have rattled off three wins out of four after winning two-thirds of their games in a three-game homestand at Rogers Place last week, with their last win boasting some strong performances from a pair of new arrivals in defenceman Jake Walman and winger Max Jones.

          "[The pace] was probably the biggest thing I noticed," Walman said. "Just the compete level and these guys are always on. It feels like a different level and I'm just really excited to play at that level. And like I said before, meaningful games. I think that was kind of almost like a pre-playoff game."

          The Sabres dropped to their sixth straight defeat on Saturday night after being shut out 4-0 by the Panthers, with Deadline acquisition Josh Norris playing 20:27 in his club debut following his trade from the Ottawa Senators in a deal involving forward Dylan Cozens.

          Buffalo saw the departures of a pair of longtime members in Dylan Cozens, Henri Jokiharju and Dennis Gilbert at the Deadline on Friday after it was looking like they'll miss the playoffs for an NHL-record 14th straight season. Former Oilers centre Ryan McLeod is tied with Josh Norris with 33 points in 59 games this season and has cooled off in recent games from a hot stretch over January and February.

          The Oilers will be feeling like all four games of this road trip are winnable as they try to chase down the Vegas Golden Knights for top spot in the Pacific. After visiting the Sabres, the Oilers will head to the Big Apple for games against the Devils, Islanders and Rangers.

          In their last contest, Edmonton had a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes against the Stars on Saturday that quickly turned into a one-goal lead after the visitors scored three times in 4:12 during the third period, but they were able to hold on to pick up two points in what was a potential preview of a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Final.

          "I think there'll be battles down the road with these guys at some point," Walman said. "And like I said, I think that was probably the perfect game for me to kind of start off and get the feeling of what it's like."

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              Jake speaks after recording an assist in his Oilers debut vs. Dallas

              Walman, who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks at the Deadline by the Oilers, made a strong impression with an assist on Zach Hyman's first of two goals against the Stars before flattening fellow No. 96 Mikko Rantanen with a hard check coming over the Dallas blue line.

              Walman possesses great skating, a good first pass and the ability to play the right side as a left shot, which made for a strong pairing with Darnell Nurse that could make for a strong defensive duo when Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg return to the fold from minor injuries.

              "I thought that was a heck of a start," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "The pass that he made on the Hyman goal, just the composure in breaking the puck out. In the second period, he had that big hit, was walking the blue line and getting pucks through. There's so much that we liked about his game. And, you know, sometimes you as a player, you have that adrenaline and you're really excited about that one.

              "I think we'll see a lot of play like he did tonight."

              Knoblauch says he wants every one of his blueliners to play alongside one another down the stretch before fully settling on specific pairs, though he wants to make sure there's a puck mover in each of them.

              "I think it's important to get the puck up into those guys' hands, especially when Leon and Connor are on the ice because they're as dynamic and dangerous as anybody in the NHL," Knoblauch said. "So we want to put them in a position so they can play to their strengths. To do that, you need puck-moving defencemen and obviously, those two are good at it.

              "We have a lot of options, which is nice. He hasn't played much on the right side, but for a guy that hasn't played much on the right side, he looked pretty good at it. So there's quite a good chance that those two are a regular pair [Nurse and Walman], but I wouldn't say that it's something that it's set."

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                  Kris speaks after the Oilers defeated the Stars 5-4 on Saturday