The Edmonton Oilers look to be breaking out of their early season slump and will look to continue the turnaround when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

After reaching the Stanley Cup Finals last summer, the Oilers started this season with a modest 6-7-1 record. However, Edmonton now has a four-game winning streak (3-0-1) heading into Monday’s meeting in Montreal.

The Oilers came close to making it three straight overtime wins in that streak, but their extra-frame luck ran out in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Edmonton did well just to take the game beyond regulation as Leon Draisaitl scored the equalizer with 89 seconds left in the third period.

Darnell Nurse’s condition was more concerning Saturday as the defenseman left the game with what the Oilers officially described as an upper-body injury. Early in the second period, an illegal head check from Toronto’s Ryan Reaves left Nurse bloodied and down for several minutes before he slowly left the ice. Reaves was later suspended for five games for the hit.

“He’s a very important piece of our team … (other defensemen) have stepped up in his absence, but you can’t replace Darnell,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said.

Nurse is unlikely to play on Monday, which could leave the Oilers even thinner on the blue line. Viktor Arvidsson has missed two straight games with an undisclosed injury, although he has returned to training.

The Canadiens are another team hoping to finally get their season back on track. After a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) sent Montreal to the bottom of the Atlantic Division, the Habs are 2-1-0 in their last three games.

Saturday’s 5-1 win at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets was one of Montreal’s strongest performances of the season. Nick Suzuki’s goal at 15:49 of the second period was the first of four unanswered goals by the Canadiens as the Habs sealed the game with a trio of third period scores.

Beyond the offensive surge, it was a much-needed solid defensive performance from a Canadiens team that ranks among the NHL leaders in goals allowed (71).

“Getting pucks off our 5-on-5 stick and from the blue line and not trying to be perfect with what we were doing on the blue line and I think that led to a lot of chances offensively,” the defenseman said Habs Mike Matheson, who had a goal and an assist Saturday.

Montreal’s defensive corps now faces the major challenge of trying to contain Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Edmonton’s superstar forwards are each on four consecutive multi-point games — McDavid has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his last four games, while Draisaitl has eight (four goals, four assists).

Suzuki leads the Canadiens with 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) this season.

The Oilers also play the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, so goalies Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard will split back-to-back starts in some order. Skinner has gotten the bulk of the ice time this season, but has a 3.28 GAA through 12 games, while Pickard has a 2.49 GAA through seven games.

Sam Montembeault has played in each of Montreal’s last seven games (starting six) and looks set to be in net again against Edmonton. With Cayden Primeau struggling, Monteambeault continued to earn playing time with a 2.59 goals-against average over his last seven outings.