Normally, top-five rankings on The Hockey Writers take a positive perspective: best players, memorable moments, greatest achievements, etc. This is not one of those lists.
It’s not that we don’t want to look favourably back upon New Year’s Eve games for the Edmonton Oilers; it’s that we literally can’t: over four and a half decades, the Oilers haven’t won enough times on Dec. 31 to comprise a top five.
Since joining the NHL in 1979, the Oilers have gone 4-15-4-1 (win, loss, overtime/shootout loss, tie) on New Year’s Eve. That’s a point percentage of .271, which is barely half of Edmonton’s all-time point percentage of .530.
There’s no rhyme or reason why this team has such a dreadful record on the final night of the year, but the ‘Curse of Dec. 31’ has plagued eras of Oilers hockey, felling some of the greatest players in the history of the game. Here’s a look at Edmonton’s five worst New Year’s Eve losses:
5) 2021 at New Jersey Devils
Having lost seven of their previous nine games, the Oilers had a sense of urgency when they arrived at Prudential Center for a New Year’s Eve matinee against the host Devils.
Edmonton trailed on four separate occasions (1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-3) but showed incredible resolve, bouncing back to score the next goal each time. The Oilers finally took their first lead of the game, 5-4, when forwards Devin Shore and Kailer Yamamoto scored in a span of 72 seconds midway through the third period.
The Oilers were only moments away from a much-needed victory when Yegor Sharangovich scored at 19:28 of the third period to force overtime. Then Jack Hughes scored 2:55 into sudden death to give New Jersey a 6-5 victory.
The heartbreaking loss sent the Oilers down a path of further despair: they lost their next five games, and it wouldn’t be until mid-February that they finally got on track. But by that time, Edmonton’s lengthy slump had cost head coach Dave Tippett his job.
4) 1992 at Winnipeg Jets
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it wasn’t unusual for Edmonton to struggle out of the gate before getting on track and making a playoff run. But after another slow start in 1992, it was starting to become clear around the holiday season that this time the Oilers weren’t going to figure things out.
Edmonton’s performance on Dec. 31 at Winnipeg Arena against the Jets epitomized that of a once-dominant team that didn’t have it anymore: the Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but they couldn’t score over the final 46:05 of the game. Meanwhile, Winnipeg chipped away with goal after goal after goal, and Evgeny Davydov’s tally at 3:26 of the third period would prove the deciding goal in a 3-2 victory for the home team.
The New Year’s Eve loss was part of a 10-game stretch spanning December and January during which the Oilers won just once and plummeted down the standings. A series of trades followed, beginning a full-scale rebuild for the Oilers, who would go on to miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
3) 2017 vs. Winnipeg Jets
Most of Edmonton’s New Year’s Eve defeats have been heartbreakingly close. The one that brought 2017 to an end was just a flat-out butt-kicking.
The Oilers were behind the eight ball almost immediately, with Winnipeg’s Marko Dano scoring on Edmonton goaltender Cam Talbot 2:34 into the game to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at Rogers Place. Blake Wheeler added a goal later in the period to send Winnipeg into the first intermission with a two-goal advantage.
Kyle Connor put Winnipeg in front by a score of 3-0 with a power-play goal at 11:17 of the second period. Then, Jets forward Bryan Little put the puck behind Edmonton with only three seconds remaining in the middle frame, effectively ending any hopes that the Oilers could stage any kind of a comeback.
Winnipeg’s Mathieu Perreault delivered the final insult, putting the puck behind Talbot at 7:26 of the third period. That goal closed out the scoring on a 5-0 loss for the Oilers, which remains their most lopsided New Year’s Eve loss in franchise history.
2) 2013 at Phoenix Coyotes
Midway through their New Year’s Eve game at Jobing.com Arena, the Oilers were rolling. They had scored three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead over the host Coyotes and were playing with the momentum.
Phoenix winger Tim Kennedy scored at 12:05 of the second period to cut Edmonton’s lead in half, and the Coyotes began to press. Even so, the Oilers managed to hold on to their lead for much of the third period, thanks in large part to the heroics of netminder Ilya Bryzgalov.
But the Oilers couldn’t quite close things out. Mikkel Boedker’s goal with just 70 seconds left tied the game at 3-3. Then Keith Yandle scored the game-winner with only seven seconds remaining in overtime, sending Edmonton to defeat and spoiling a tremendous effort from Bryzgalov, who made 41 saves as the Oilers were grossly outshot 45-25.
1) 2014 at Calgary Flames
What’s worse than blowing a two-goal lead and losing on New Year’s Eve? How about blowing a two-goal lead on Dec. 31 for a second consecutive year, only this time doing it against your biggest rival?
In what was the sixth and most recent edition of the Battle of Alberta on New Year’s Eve, Edmonton took a 2-0 lead over the host Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome, with Matt Fraser scoring in the opening period followed by Jordan Eberle getting a goal at 10:28 of the second.
While Calgary clawed back to tie the score 2-2, Edmonton went back in front when Andrew Ference lit the lamp with only 10:31 remaining in the game. But the Oilers’ lead lasted less than two and a half minutes before Flames forward Joe Colborne scored the equalizer at 11:55 of the third period.
Regulation ended with the score deadlocked at 3-3, sending the game into 3-on-3 sudden death, where Calgary got the winning goal on the type of play that could only happen to a team as cursed as Edmonton.
Calgary’s Jonas Jooris, who was sent to the sin bin at 19:01 of the third period for tripping, had his penalty expire at precisely the perfect time for Calgary and the worst possible moment for Edmonton. Jooris jumped out of the box and took a pass from teammate Jiri Hudler before firing the puck into the top corner behind Edmonton goalie Ben Scrivens, giving the Flames a 4-3 victory.
Related: Oilers Have Dubious Record of Playing on New Year’s Eve
Edmonton heads into its home game tonight (Dec. 31) against the Utah Hockey Club with the rare opportunity to start a New Year’s Eve winning streak.
On Dec. 31, 2023, Edmonton clobbered the Anaheim Ducks 7-2 at Honda Center. The seven goals were the second most ever scored in a New Year’s Eve game by the Oilers, who also had their second-largest margin of victory in a Dec. 31 contest. Six different Oilers scored, and 10 Edmonton skaters recorded a point.
After a disappointing weekend California road trip, which saw Edmonton lose to both Anaheim and the Los Angeles Kings, captain Connor McDavid and the Oilers could certainly use some more New Year’s Eve fireworks tonight.
