The Edmonton Oilers are off to a 0-2 start on their four-game road trip after falling 5-3 to the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday (Nov. 20).
For the second straight game, Edmonton jumped in front 2-0 and was ahead 3-2 during the second period but couldn’t hold on for a victory, let alone even a bonus point. In a 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (Nov. 18) at Amalie Arena, the Oilers blew three separate leads.
Connor McDavid scored twice for the Oilers, who also got a goal from Evander Kane. Edmonton netminder Calvin Pickard faced 31 shots and turned aside 27 of them.
Niko Mikkola led the way for Florida with a pair of goals, which is twice as many as the Panthers blueliner had in the entire 2022-23 season. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for the win.
Edmonton’s loss drops the Oilers to 2-2 under new coach Kris Knoblauch, who was brought in after Jay Woodcroft was relieved of his duties on Nov. 12. After playing the first 17 games on their 2023-24 schedule, the Oilers are 5-11-1 and have the third-fewest points in the NHL this season. Here are four takeaways from Monday’s contest in Sunrise, Fla.
Oilers Having Same Problems
Four games into the Knoblauch era, these Oilers don’t look that much different than the team that got Woodcroft fired. The defensive issues that plagued Edmonton throughout its 2-9-1 start were on full horrifying display Monday.
Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse gave Carter Verhaeghe all kinds of time in the slot to score Florida’s first goal, which came on the power play following a completely unnecessary penalty taken by Kane.
Florida’s second goal was the result of a poor clearing attempt by veteran Mattias Ekholm, who is usually the one Oilers blueliner that can be counted on for sound defensive play.
The Panthers’ third goal came after Edmonton defenceman Philip Broberg tripped over a broken stick, setting up a two-on-one for Florida that ended with Kane inadvertently knocking the puck into his own net.
On what would prove to be the game-winning goal, much-maligned Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard was beaten on a pinch, skated back without purpose, then circled in front of his net and couldn’t get his stick on the puck, leading to a Grade A opportunity that Kevin Stenlund made no mistake burying to put Florida ahead 4-3.
The besieged Bouchard did make a nice play to prevent a goal when Edmonton had pulled Pickard for an extra attacker late in the third, but Florida ultimately scored into the empty net, anyway.
McDavid Finding His Form
McDavid had one of his best outings in a while, recording his highest single-game goal output this season. The Oilers captain opened the scoring 5:59 into the first period, then converted on a penalty shot at 5:00 of the second period to put Edmonton ahead 3-2.
After going eight games without a goal, McDavid has scored in three of the last four games. He has five points in the last four games, following a stretch of just one point in five games.
With 15 points in 15 games this season, McDavid is still way down from his average of 1.87 points per game last season, but he is looking a bit closer to the generational talent that the struggling Oilers desperately need him to be.
Power-Play Unit Lets Oilers Down
While not clicking at last season’s all-time great rate (32.4%), Edmonton’s power play has still been decent thus far in 2023-24. But the man advantage didn’t produce for the Oilers on Monday at a time when it could have saved their bacon.
Edmonton had two power-play opportunities in the third period, on penalties at 5:53 and 12:22, but didn’t so much as register a shot on either while trailing by one goal. The Oilers finished the night 0-for-three on the man advantage and have now gone three games without a power-play goal (0/11). Edmonton’s power play is 21.7 percent for the season.
Pickard Plays Solid in Goal
Pickard made his first appearance in an NHL regular season game since March 27, 2022, and started an NHL regular season game for the first time since Jan. 28, 2022, both with the Detroit Red Wings. This was the veteran goalie’s first regular season action with the Oilers since signing with Edmonton in the summer of 2022.
Related: 5 Things to Know About Oilers’ Goalie Call-Up Calvin Pickard
With that in mind, Pickard didn’t play that badly at all for someone that’s been in the American Hockey League (AHL) for the last year and a half. His goals-against average (4.16) and save percentage (.871) for the game aren’t anything to brag about, but as mentioned, the goalie got no help defensively, and he did come up with some key saves in the third period to keep the Oilers alive as they tried to rally from a 4-3 deficit throughout the third period.
Stuart Skinner (4-6-1) will almost certainly be back between the pipes for the Oilers when they return to action Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Edmonton then closes its road trip on Friday with a matinee matchup opposite the Washington Capitals.