What’s going on, Leafs Nation?

It’s Zach Laing here, Oilernation’s associate editor and The Nation Network’s news director checking in. Arun Srinivasan and I are trading websites, in part, for tonight’s game between the Oilers and Maple Leafs, offering the opposing side a dive into what has been making headlines.

This isn’t the first time we’ve done so this season, either, as some of you may remember me from this piece last time the two sides met.

Nonetheless, let’s talk about what’s happening in Edmonton these days.

The Oilers find themselves entrenched in a battle for the top spot in the Pacific Divison, a goal the team had from the onset of the season. They learned a tough lesson last year finding out how difficult it is to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, doubly so considering they did it without home-ice advantage.

It’ll be Edmonton and Vegas trading barbs back and forth, but what’s helped the Oilers get where they are today — tied heading into Saturday’s games with a game in hand — is the last 10 games for each side. The Oilers have gone 7-2-1, while Vegas has sputtered going 3-4-3.

These Oilers are different than even the ones in November, as they were 9-7-1 heading into that game, just coming out of a rough first 14 games of the year. Since then, the Oilers have been second in the league in points behind just the Washington Capitals, and they look dominant in doing so. A big factor since these teams last met has been the Oilers’ goaltending.

Since Nov. 17, they have the third-best team save percentage in the league at .911, behind only the Winnipeg Jets and Capitals. Their offence has hit their stride, scoring 3.56 goals per hour, a league-best mark, and allowing just 2.41 goals against per hour, the fifth-best mark.

It had been a hot minute since John Klingberg last played an NHL game before signing with the Oilers earlier in January, and his last game came with the Maple Leafs. But Klingberg wasn’t at his best then, dealing with hip issues that had plagued him his entire career. Now, he said he’s feeling rejuvenated and better than ever, and he looked the part in his Oilers debut Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings.

He played 16:39 that night taking one shot on goal, but you could see he was moving well, even if he was still needing to shake off the rust. His first game saw him on a pairing with Mattias Ekholm, and the expectation is that’s where he will be again tonight.

Klingberg wanted to get into some games before the 4-Nations Face-Off break, and that’s what he has the chance to do. After tonight, the Oilers visit the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday and Wednesday, before playing their final game next Friday against Colorado.

That’s what the Oilers are expected to do with their top line tonight, putting Connor McDavid between Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centres Viktor Arvidsson and Zach Hyman.

It goes without saying how dominant McDavid and Draisaitl are when they play together. At five-on-five this season, they’ve spent 284 minutes together, controlling 66.2 percent of the shot attempt share, 66.3 percent of the scoring chance share, 66.5 percent of the expected goal share and 68.6 percent of the goal share. All the while, they’ve scored 5.1 goals per hour, allowing just 2.3.

Yeah, they’re good.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.