On Tuesday (Nov. 4), the Edmonton Oilers were defeated 4-3 by the host Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. The game required a shootout after the teams were deadlocked 3-3 at the conclusion of sudden-death overtime.
Related: Stars Extend Point Streak to 7 Games, Defeat Oilers 4-3 in Shootout
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Vasily Podkolzin tallied for the visiting team. Mikko Rantanen scored twice for the Stars, who also got a goal from Miro Heiskanen.
Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced, while Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith was beaten three times on 26 shots.
The Stars outscored Edmonton 2-1 in the shootout. Wyatt Johnston fired a snap shot past Skinner for the winning shootout goal.
Edmonton now has a record of 6-5-4 for 16 points, which is tied for third most in the Pacific Division standings.
Oilers Blow Another Lead
All the talk coming into Tuesday’s game was around the Oilers’ inability this season to hold on to leads. Their latest meltdown had come 24 hours earlier at Enterprise Center, where Edmonton was ahead 2-0 late in the second period and wound up losing 3-2 in regulation to the host St. Louis Blues.
So when Edmonton jumped in front by a score of 2-0 before the game was even eight minutes old in Dallas on Tuesday, Oilers fans were understandably nervous. And they were even more nervous after Rantanen scored to cut Edmonton’s advantage in half midway through the second period.
But when McDavid tallied at 7:51 of the third period, restoring a two-goal lead for the visitors, it looked like this time the Oilers might actually hold on to a lead. The look on McDavid’s face as he celebrated the goal spoke volumes: he knew how crucial an insurance goal was for the Oilers to avoid another collapse. And yet, somehow, Edmonton collapsed anyway.
Just 46 seconds after McDavid scored, Rantanen answered with his second goal of the night. Then, less than five minutes after that, Heiskanen pounced on a puck that bounced off the boards behind Skinner and fired it past the Oilers’ goaltender. Suddenly the game was all tied up, and the rest is history.
Edmonton has now held a multi-goal lead six times this season, and has managed to win just one of those games in regulation. In the last six days alone, the Oilers have lost three games in which they’ve led by two goals.
There are now only two teams that have a winning percentage below .500 when leading after the first period: the Calgary Flames, who have lost six of the seven games they’ve led after the opening 20 minutes; and the Oilers, who have just one win to show for the four times they’ve taken a lead into the first intermission.
Oilers Fail to Convert in OT
If the Oilers’ ongoing failure to protect leads isn’t baffling enough, their sudden death struggles might be even more confounding. Tuesday marked the sixth time already this season that Edmonton has gone to overtime, but the Oilers have won just two of those games.
Three-on-three hockey is when skill is allowed to shine, and talent most often prevails. So how is it that a team with two of the most gifted players on the planet, Draisaitl and McDavid, doesn’t convert more often in sudden death?
McDavid’s last regular season overtime goal came against St. Louis on Feb. 28, 2024. Since then, he’s played in 28 games that have gone to three-on-three, and not lit the lamp once.
Edmonton’s skill isn’t translating into shootout success, either: Since the start of the 2023-24 season, the Oilers have won only two of their 10 games that have gone to the skills contest.
McDavid Takes Art Ross Lead
But while he again failed to score in overtime, Tuesday was another very productive night for McDavid. In addition to his goal in the third period, McDavid also assisted on Draisaitl’s first period tally, giving the Oilers captain his third consecutive multi-point game.
With those two points, McDavid has now taken the lead for most points in the NHL this season. He has four goals and 17 assists for 21 points, which is one more than the total for both Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon and Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele, who are tied for second place with 20 points apiece.
Amazingly, this is the first time McDavid has sat atop the Art Ross Trophy race since the final day of the 2022-23 NHL season.
Meanwhile, Draisaitl’s goal was his 10th of 2025-26, moving the German centre into a five-way tie for most in the league. MacKinnon, Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield, and Cutter Gauthier of the Anaheim Ducks also have 10 goals this season.
The Oilers now have three days between games before they return to action on Saturday (Nov. 8), when Edmonton hosts the Avalanche at Rogers Place. The Oilers have yet to suffer a regulation loss at home this season, going 4-0-2.
