Edmonton Oilers pick up where they left off — playing poorly

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Published Feb 22, 2025  •  Last updated 1 hour ago  •  4 minute read

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Well, the Edmonton Oilers picked up right where they left off before the break.

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And that’s not a good thing.

It was three shades of bad as an Oilers team that looked sloppy and disinterested heading into the Four Nations Face-Off break played the exact same way in their return Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.

All the stuff that was dragging the Oilers down before the 15-day reset haunted them again in a 6-3 loss to the 26th-place team in the NHL. The Flyers handled the visiting Oilers rather easily, capitalizing on Edmonton’s bad puck management, anemic offence and game-killing giveaways.

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“What really cost us were the turnovers, trying to make plays when there is not a play to be made, not being able to get the puck in deep,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Four even-strength goals against and all of them were the direct result of turnovers.

“And we left (Stuart Skinner) out there to dry way too many times, giving up breakaways, two-on-nones. It wasn’t a very good sound effort by us defensively, whatsoever.”

This is exactly what everyone around the team did not want to see. They notion that their pre-break slide was fatigue and human nature lost a little of its validity on a night when they managed 18 shots on net, and just three in the third period.

They are now 5-5-1 in their last 11 games and are not playing at a level that even closely resembles a Stanley Cup contender.

There might not be anything to panic about just yet, but much more of this and it’s time to get really worried.

“What’s alarming is if we don’t get better,” said Knoblauch. “Tonight we got caught off guard and didn’t play very well.”

With the trade deadline fast approaching these last seven games are about showing management exactly who they are and what they have, and what they need. And with Washington, Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina still to come on this trip, there will be no hiding from the truth.

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“This is a big trip coming up and the competition only gets higher from here,” said defenceman Darnell Nurse. “We have to shake it off. Sunday is another big test for us against Washington.”

BAD BOUCHARD

At the top of the list for why Edmonton lost this game was defenceman Even Bouchard, who also picked up right where he left off before the break.

Bouchard wasted no time showing why he wasn’t considered for Team Canada’s roster, turning the puck over at the offensive blue line on a soft play that put the Oilers down 1-0 at 2:07.

Then, with the score 2-2 in the second period, he turned the puck over deep in Edmonton’s zone to make it 3-2 Flyers.

Team Canada’s defence went nine players deep, the original seven and then Drew Doughty and Thomas Harley after injuries and illness cut into Canada’s blue line.

And still Bouchard’s name didn’t get called.

So it’s not just negative media guys who are trying to make something out of nothing when it comes to Bouchard’s play this season. The top hockey minds in the league also believe he’s dropped off considerably since last year’s outstanding campaign.

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That’s a big problem because he was a major factor in getting Edmonton to the Cup final last year. He had a huge playoff run. The Oilers need to get that version of Bouchard back.

AVERAGE SKINNER

Stuart Skinner gave up five goals on the first 20 shots, which looks terrible on the data sheet, but one was a high deflection on the power play, another was the exact same goal that Connor McDavid scored against the U.S. at the Four Nations Face-Off, one was a two-on-none and one was a back door tap in.

So hanging this one on the goalie is a fairly weak take.

“You can’t win hockey games turning the puck over like that, giving up odd man rushes,” said Knoblauch. “There is no fault on Stu Skinner tonight. His workload was way too high.

“I’m not angry at him at all tonight.”

GOOD KLINGBERG

Defenceman John Klingberg, who skated with the Edmonton Oil Kings during the break, took a big step forward Saturday. He had a goal and an assist in the first period, threw an elite stretch pass to Draisaitl and finished plus two on the night (Connor McDavid and Mattis Ekholm were each minus three).

He is shaping up to be exactly what the Oilers want him to be — another smooth-skating puck mover who can get the biscuit to Edmonton’s offensive forwards. He’s only played six games in the last year so there is every reason he’s only going to get better.

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STRONG SAVOIE

In just his second NHL game, and first with the Oilers, 21-year-old Matt Savoie had a nice debut. Skating on a line with Leon Draisaitl, Savoie needed less than 10 minutes to make his presence felt. He won a puck battle behind the net and set up Draisaitl’s 41st of the season in the first period.

“I thought Matt was one of the bright spot on our team,” said Knoblauch. “I thought he played really well. He gets in on the forecheck and sets up the first goal. His next shift he made an unbelievable play on the breakout that led to a partial two-on-one. He made some defensive plays on the back check. I was very happy with his game.”

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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