The Edmonton Oilers winning streak came to an end after two games on Monday (Nov. 4), with a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Rogers Place.
Devils forwards Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier and Stefan Noesen each scored, while New Jersey netminder Jake Allen made 31 saves to pick up his 26th career shutout. Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard stopped only 13 of the 16 shots he faced, for a less-than-stellar .813 save percentage.
It was a disappointing performance from Edmonton’s NHL team, which was playing its third game since losing captain Connor McDavid to an ankle injury last week. The Oilers had won their first two outings without McDavid, defeating the Nashville Predators 5-1 at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday (Oct. 31) and the Calgary Flames 4-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday (Nov. 3).
This was the second time in seven home games this season that Edmonton has failed to score a goal. With the loss, the Oilers are now 6-6-1, including just 2-4-1 in front of their fans. Here are some takeaways from Monday’s tilt in Oil Country:
Five-Hit Wonders
For a sense of how things unfolded on the Rogers Place ice Monday, consider that Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse had as many hits against the Flames on Sunday as his entire team had 24 hours later against the Devils.
The Oilers registered just five hits, their fewest in any home game since November 2008. That measly total is also the least number of hits by any NHL team in a game so far this season.
If the Oilers thought Monday’s engagement was simply going to be a game of shinny, the Devils didn’t get that memo: New Jersey was credited with 19 hits, nearly four times as many as its opponent.
Getting Killed on the PK
Edmonton’s penalty kill unit faltered again Monday, as Bratt scored on New Jersey’s only power-play opportunity of the game, late in the second period, to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Jesper Bratt now has 15 points in 15 games this season. 👀 #NHLStats: https://t.co/WXAN7ZXDOO
— NHL (@NHL) November 5, 2024
📺: @SportsOnPrimeCA ➡️ https://t.co/93veFI9jrZ pic.twitter.com/a7Cjmlqyqs
Bratt’s goal, which came at 16:34 of the middle frame, was a backbreaker: Edmonton had outshot the visitors 21-12 to that point, but were unable to solve Allen, and a lead of two goals in this game might as well have been a five-goal advantage.
The Oilers have now allowed a league-high 14 power-play goals this season and have an NHL-worst 60% penalty-kill percentage. Those ugly numbers speak for themselves, but Monday’s game provided a vivid depiction of how much the Oilers are being affected by their terrible PK.
Edmonton’s penalty kill had literally one job against New Jersey – stop the Devils from putting the game in a chokehold with a massive goal just before the second intermission – and couldn’t do it.
Oilers Forwards Make History
On a positive note, a neat bit of history happened Monday inside Rogers Place, where Oilers forwards Noah Philp and Derek Ryan become only the second pair of University of Alberta alumni to play on the same team in an NHL regular season game.
Related: 6 Facts About Oilers Forward Noah Philp’s Amazing Journey to the NHL
Philp was recalled from the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League and suited up for the Oilers against the Predators and Flames, but Ryan had been a healthy scratch for both those games. Ryan drew back into the lineup on Monday, making it a night of incredible significance in the Alberta provincial capital.
An Edmonton hockey fixture for well over a century, the Golden Bears have seen 15 of their skaters go onto the NHL, including six that have played for the Oilers. Until Monday, the only two Alberta alumni to be teammates in the NHL were Wade Campbell and Don Springs, who played a total of 100 regular season games together with the Winnipeg Jets between 1982 and 1984.
The McDavid Factor
The loss of McDavid, who was hurt on his first shift in Edmonton’s 6-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 28, almost seemed to have galvanized the Oilers. Edmonton had arguably played its best two games of the season in the victories over Nashville and Calgary, with everyone in the lineup from top to bottom elevating their game to make up for McDavid’s absence.
In Edmonton’s prior two games combined, 13 different Oilers had at least one point, while players that had been struggling, like Zach Hyman and Mattias Janmark, broke through with their first goals of 2024-25. But Monday’s loss showed how much this team misses McDavid, who has averaged more than 1.5 points per game over his 10-season NHL career.
To that end, the Oilers got a welcome sight on Monday, when McDavid skated for the first time since being hurt. While there is not yet a specific date for the captain to draw back into the lineup, Monday’s activity means he’s not far off. And McDavid’s return can’t come soon enough for the Oilers, who are next in action on Wednesday (Nov. 6) when they host the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights.
