The Edmonton Oilers’ three-game winning streak came to an end on Thursday (March 20) at Rogers Place, where they lost 4-3 in overtime to the league-leading Winnipeg Jets.
Jeff Skinner had his first two-goal performance as a member of the Oilers, while his Edmonton teammate Zach Hyman tallied with just over five minutes remaining to force OT.
Related: Kyle Connor’s Game-Winning Goal Secures Jets’ 4-3 Overtime Victory Over Oilers
Kyle Connor potted the winning goal 73 seconds into sudden death for the Jets, who also got one goal apiece from Josh Morrissey, Cole Perfetti and Brandon Tanev.
Edmonton’s effort against the Jets can be viewed through a glass-half-full perspective, but Oilers fans likely weren’t feeling so good by the end of Thursday’s game. Here’s why.
Superstars Dropping Like Flies
The Oilers were already down one superstar to start against the Jets: Leon Draisaitl, the top scorer in the NHL this season with 49 goals, sat out Thursday’s game with an undisclosed injury that he sustained in Edmonton’s 7-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday (March 18). Prior to the game, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said that the Oilers are treating Draisaitl’s situation as day-to-day.
“It’s definitely being cautious,” Knoblauch added. “We’re near the end of the regular season, hitting the playoffs. We want 100 percent from Leon when he’s healthy, and this is something we do not want to linger. We feel this is something he probably could play through, maybe it’s not an issue — we certainly don’t want it to be an issue for the long-term — so this is definitely the right play, we believe.”
Then word came down during the second intermission that Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who currently sits fourth in the Art Ross Trophy race, had been ruled out for the rest of the game with a lower-body injury. McDavid appeared to have been hurt late in the second period when he was clipped by the stick of Jets blueliner Morrissey. Knoblauch had no immediate update on the condition of his captain after the game.
Even without their two Hart Trophy winners, the Oilers managed to go toe-to-toe with Winnipeg. The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period, knotted up 2-2 through 40 minutes, and deadlocked at three goals each at the end of regulation.
Goalie Also Knocked Out of Action
It wasn’t just Oilers forwards that were sidelined on Thursday. Shortly after Hyman scored the tying goal, Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner was removed from the game by the concussion spotter with 5:03 remaining in regulation.
Skinner may have had his bell rung on a play at 13:45 of the third, when Oilers defenceman Troy Stecher knocked Winnipeg forward Gabriel Vilardi into the netminder. Replays showed Vilardi made contact with Skinner’s head.
The goalie wasn’t having his strongest game, allowing three goals on only 16 shots. He was replaced between the pipes by Calvin Pickard, who made three saves in the third period before being beaten by Connor on Winnipeg’s first shot of OT.
This wasn’t the first time in 2024-25 that the concussion spotter pulled Skinner from the ice. In Edmonton’s 4-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Jan. 7, he missed the final 5:25 of the opening frame following a collision with Boston defenseman Nikita Zadorov, before returning to start the second period.
As was the case with McDavid, Knoblauch had no update to provide about the condition of Skinner following the game on Thursday night.
Much Better the Second Time Around
What a difference five months makes. Five goals, to be precise. The Oilers went from losing by six goals, 6-0, against Winnipeg in their season-opening game on Oct. 9, to getting beaten by only one goal on Thursday.
Granted, the Oilers of October were such a dumpster fire that they shouldn’t be used as a gauge for anything. But by the same token, the Jets of March are the measuring stick for the NHL: Winnipeg now has 100 points from a record of 48-14-4, putting the Jets 10 points ahead of any other team in the Western Conference.
The Oilers can certainly feel good about being Winnipeg’s equal for 60 minutes on Thursday, especially given the adversity they had to overcome.
That said, given their tenuous hold on second place in the ultra-tight Pacific Division standings, Edmonton really could have used two points. Both the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings won on Thursday, which means the Oilers now trail the division-leading Golden Knights by three points, and have just a two-point lead over the third-place Kings.
The Oilers are back in action on Saturday (March 22), when they host the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 8 p.m. MST.
