Well, at least it was a better loss than the last one.
A game after being embarrassed by the lowly Buffalo Sabres, the best the Edmonton Oilers could do in response was to lose again, this time to a better team.
Alas, it’s come to that. With just five wins in their last 15 games, we are reduced to using Decade of Darkness metrics to describe the Edmonton Oilers progress right now.
Their 3-8 record heading into Thursday night in New Jersey was the worst 11-game stretch in the NHL and things didn’t get any better in the Prudential Center.
Instead, the Oilers kept digging, giving up two goals in the third period to drop a 3-2 decision to a Devils team that was missing its best forward (Jack Hughes) and best defenceman (Dougie Hamilton).
Things are going south in a hurry.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, who has a lot of holes to plug down the stretch. “Whether that’s the power play or penalty kill. Whether it’s depth scoring or making mistakes. Whatever it is, there are a lot of things we need to improve on.”
Now, with the Vegas Golden Knights pulling away with the division lead and the third place Los Angeles Kings breathing down their necks, things are getting all kinds of serious for an Oilers team that hasn’t been able to summon a complete, 60-minute game for weeks.
“Everyone knows we’re going through a tough stretch right now and things aren’t easy,” said defenceman Brett Kulak. “We talk among ourselves in the room and we have to stick together. None of us are happy. We have to stick together and dig ourselves out.”
This was another one of those nights where Edmonton’s offence was either coming from the top two or three players or it wasn’t coming at all.
Leon Draisaitl scored Edmonton’s first goal, his 47th of the season as he runs away with the NHL’s goal-scoring race, and Evan Bouchard scored the second. Beyond that, all of the forwards currently in goal-scoring slumps extended them another game. Plenty of passengers in this one.
Edmonton won on the shot clock, 33-21, but at this point in the season that’s like a basketball team going two-for-33 from the floor and feeling good about all the shot attempts.
In games that matter, and the Oilers are neck-deep in them right now, the goals are either going in or they aren’t. And, for the second 3-2 loss in a row, they aren’t.
At the other end, Edmonton spent too much time in its own end and then, when things got tense, folded in the third period. Bouchard gave them their first lead of the game at 4:18 of the final frame, but four minutes and seven seconds later the Devils were up 3-2 on a pair of screened point shots that Stuart Skinner didn’t have a chance on.
When you only score twice, every defensive mistake is magnified and that was the case against the Devils.
“It’s disheartening,” said Knoblauch. “I thought our guys put in a really good effort. The first 40 minutes I thought was a pretty even game. The third period I thought we really pushed hard and had a lot of scoring chances.
“The turning point in the third period is turning the puck over in the neutral zone against their top line. It’s our fourth line against their top line and we turn the puck over and they capitalize on it. It’s something that absolutely can’t happen, especially with a 2-1 lead.”
Skinner had a strong night in Edmonton’s net, giving up nothing on three two-on-ones and three New Jersey power plays, but the Oilers couldn’t muster the necessary run support. The offensive depth on this team is virtually non-existent.
“I thought we did a good job with the push back but we couldn’t find a way to get the next one,” said former Devil Adam Henrique. “We just have to try and find a way to get a couple of ugly goals. Sometimes it just takes those ugly ones to get you going in the right direction.
“The guys who score, they score all the time. It’s up to the depth to try and find some ugly goals to be momentum boosters.”
Once again, it was Draisaitl leading the way. He extended his career-high consecutive-game points streak to 16 games and counting. Before this run, Draisaitl had points in eight straight games. And before that it was 14-straight. In the last 40 games he’s only been held off the score sheet twice.
McDavid finished the night with two assists, giving him 60 on the season and making him the only player other than Wayne Gretzky (13 in a row) to have nine consecutive 60-assist seasons.
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