The Edmonton Oilers saw their three-game win streak come to an end on Saturday (Nov. 18) at Amalie Arena where they opened a four-game road trip with a 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Despite jumping out in front 2-0 and taking a 3-2 lead into the third period, the Oilers were unable to hang on for victory. Tampa Bay scored four times in the third period, including three unanswered goals over the final 10:32 of the game.
Derek Ryan scored twice for the Oilers, who also got goals from Evan Bouchard and James Hamblin. Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev led the way for Tampa Bay with three points each.
The loss drops Edmonton to 5-10-1 this season and leaves the Oilers in 30th place in the NHL overall standings. Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s tilt in Tampa.
Knoblauch Suffers First Loss
After Edmonton fired head coach Jay Woodcroft and replaced him with Kris Knoblauch last Sunday (Nov. 12), the Oilers started 2-0 under their new bench boss, defeating the New York Islanders 4-1 on Monday (Nov. 13) and rallying to defeat the Seattle Kraken 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday (Nov. 15).
The Oilers, who managed just two wins in the opening month of the season, were showing hints of progress, but that had arguably started before the dismissal of Woodcroft, with Edmonton beating the Kraken 4-1 in Seattle on Nov. 11.
At Amalie Arena on Saturday, many of the problems that plagued the Oilers over their first dozen games, while Woodcroft was still in charge, resurfaced: terrible defensive plays that led directly to Tampa scoring on goaltender Stuart Skinner, who had little chance on the goals but still couldn’t come up with a big save when his team needed it.
In their 13 games under Woodcroft this season, Edmonton was outscored 16-6 in the third period. The Oilers flipped that around in Knoblauch’s first two games, outscoring the Islanders and Kraken a combined 5-0 in the third frame. But on Saturday, they twice blew third-period leads and ended up losing a game in which they never trailed under less than 10 minutes remained.
Draisaitl and McDavid Continue to Struggle
Last season, the Oilers played a grand total of three games when Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were both held pointless. Saturday marked the third time that’s happened just this month.
It’s unfathomable how this duo that has lit up the NHL for the last half dozen years has gone so quiet. Draisaitl has only two goals in Edmonton’s last 13 games and has failed to register a point in five of the last 10 outings. McDavid has just four points total, including only one at even-strength, in his last eight appearances.
Related: Oilers’ Concerns Shouldn’t Be With Draisaitl & McDavid
Based on the tandem’s incredible track record, it’s been just assumed that Draisaitl and McDavid will break out of their collective slump any day now. There were certainly signs of that in Edmonton’s pair of victories earlier during the week, with Draisaitl recording one goal and five assists, while McDavid scored twice and added an assist in the two games combined.
But both were silent again on Saturday when just one goal at the right time from either Draisaitl or McDavid could have made the difference. The Oilers should not be losing games when they get three goals from their bottom six and another from the backend.
Going back to his sophomore NHL campaign, 2016-17, McDavid has finished first or second in the NHL in points for seven straight seasons, and he won the Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s goal leader in 2022-23. So far this season, the Oilers captain is tied for 120th in the entire league with four goals and ranks only fifth on his team with 13 points.
Hamblin’s Memorable Goal
To close out on a positive note, Saturday’s game featured one of those emotional examples of the power of sport.
After Hamblin scored his first NHL regular-season goal, unassisted at 8:31 of the opening period, the 24-year-old Edmonton native pointed to the sky in tribute to his late mother, Gina, who passed away from cancer in 2017.
The touching moment came in the 16th NHL career game for the five-foot-ten forward, who has overcome the odds of going undrafted and being relatively undersized to make it to hockey’s highest level.
“My initial thoughts went right to my mom,” Hamblin said while speaking to media following the game. “I’ve had that celebration in the bank for a few years now, so it was weight off my shoulders to finally score the first one.”
To add to the resonance of Hamblin’s goal, November is Hockey Fights Cancer month in the NHL. Edmonton’s Hockey Fights Cancer team night is set for Nov. 28, when the Oilers host the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Place.
Things don’t get any easier on this road trip for the Oilers. Edmonton’s next game is Monday (Nov. 20) in Sunrise, Fla., against the Florida Panthers, who have lost just once at home this season and are one of the NHL’s hottest teams with a 6-1-0 record in their last seven games overall.
