The Edmonton Oilers dropped their second straight game to open the season with a 5-2 decision at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks on Hockey Night in Canada (Oct. 12). Chicago was the 31st-place team last season, and rolled into town on the second half of a back-to-back, losing in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets the night before. Despite that, the Oilers still couldn’t find a way to win.
The Blackhawks opened the scoring 15:50 into the first period on a point shot redirected in front by Philipp Kurashev. It took the Oilers almost 85 minutes to score their first goal of the season, coming off the stick of an unsuspecting suspect in Corey Perry. However, the Blackhawks regained the lead with a power-play goal from Seth Jones on a wrist shot from the point, followed up by an absolute missile from Connor Bedard over the glove of goaltender, Calvin Pickard just over three minutes later. Teuvo Teravainen added two more power-play goals for Chicago in the third period which sealed the deal. The Oilers have been outscored 11-2 while outshooting their opponents 68-40 through their first two games.
Related: Oilers Look Nothing Like Contenders in Another Season-Opening Shellacking
The Oilers look nothing like Stanley Cup contenders, and the sellout crowd at Rogers Place was once again left incredibly underwhelmed and disappointed. There is not much to be positive about after this game, so here are three takeaways from this lacklustre performance:
Oilers’ Penalty Kill Struggles
The Oilers penalty kill looks nothing like they did during their playoff run last season. They killed off 94.3% of their infractions, including a stretch of 21 straight on home ice. Their elite penalty kill carried them throughout the playoffs. However, through their first two games, they only have one successful penalty kill on six opportunities. Chicago scored on all three of their power plays en route to their 5-2 win.
Edmonton did lose some key pieces of that penalty-kill unit that was so successful in the playoffs including Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, and Cody Ceci. However, that is no excuse. Everybody needs to step up and fill those roles if they want to improve.
Edmonton made it extremely easy on Chicago. They allowed them easy zone entries, they weren’t aggressive in trying to force mistakes, and they weren’t getting into the shooting lanes. The Oilers only had 12 blocked shots whereas the Blackhawks had 35. That discrepancy is unacceptable and needs to be addressed.
Oilers’ Big Guns Need to Step Up
For the second straight game, the Oilers’ top players were held off the scoresheet at even strength. While Leon Draisaitl got them on the board courtesy of a power-play tally midway through the third period, their top players were relatively ineffective once again. Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard are still pointless, and Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had one power-play assist.
This team won’t win many games when the fourth line is your best. The big guns need to step up and be your best players on a consistent basis. Yes, it is important for the depth players to contribute, but that’s only effective if the star players are also playing well. That was not the case tonight and the result demonstrated that.
Oilers’ Goaltending and Defensive Woes Continue
The Oilers failed to add a right-shot, top-four blueliner to pair with Darnell Nurse dating back to last season and it’s coming back to bite them. Not only did they fail to upgrade that position, but they seemingly got worse. They lost Ceci, Philip Broberg, and Vincent Desharnias, and replaced them with Ty Emberson, Travis Dermott, and Josh Brown who is currently in the American Hockey League (AHL). This unit is simply not good enough and it shows. Even though they haven’t allowed many shots, they have given up way too many quality chances. Their gap control has been horrendous as evidenced by Bedard’s snipe in the second period. He was able to walk in uncontested and pick his spot without hesitation.
Sophomore season Connor Bedard is here! 🤩🚨 pic.twitter.com/iwifnrMjaQ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 13, 2024
Just like their first game, Edmonton held their opponents to only 20 shots, but that wasn’t enough. Pickard fared no better than Stuart Skinner, allowing five goals with a putrid 5.26 goals-against average (GAA) and a .750 save percentage (SV%). Those numbers are not going to cut it, and this team will need much better goaltending moving forward.
The second Blackhawk goal is one that Pickard needs to save, especially after the Oilers tied the game at one. It was a simple wrist shot from the point that went right through the Oilers’ goaltender and into the back of the net. This team needs big saves at crucial points of the game and they haven’t gotten that so far. Therefore, the Oilers have been forced to play from behind which rarely leads to success.
No facet of their game is working right now. They can’t score, their special teams have been abysmal, they aren’t defending well, and they are getting subpar goaltending. All that mixed together results in a record of 0-2 to start the season and deservedly so.
The Oilers are back in action on Sunday (Oct. 13) when they host the Calgary Flames in the first installment of the Battle of Alberta. Both teams are in the second half of back-to-backs. Edmonton needs a much better effort if they want to get back on track and finally get into the win column.
