And you wonder why the Edmonton Oilers keep running through goalies.
Just when it looked like the team had sorted out its issues and was making strides toward a more complete game, they gave a textbook display on how to hang your goalie out to dry in a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
In what was really a 7-1 loss disguised as 4-1, the Oilers turned the calendar back to October in a comedy of errors that, if not for Calvin Pickard, would have deteriorated into a beatdown that rivalled the ones the Colorado (9-1) and Dallas (8-3) put on them earlier this year.
“We got behind in the second and then it was too much run and gun for me,” sighed Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm. “Without Picks tonight it could have been a lot worse. That is obviously something we have to tighten up.”
Newly-acquired goalie Tristan Jarry must have had chills running down his spine while watching the Oilers surrender FOUR breakaways in the first two periods after sloppy turnovers at the offensive blue line.
It was almost comical. Alex Regula tries a blind, behind-the-back pass. Breakaway. Matt Savoie blows a tire. Breakaway. Evan Bouchard waits until he’s painted into a corner before trying a soft pass across the blue line. Breakaway.
Calvin Pickard stopped them all to keep the contest from getting out of hand, but this is the kind of stuff that leads a team into “goaltending” trouble.
“The breakaways we gave up were just (bad) puck management,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Trying things in the offensive zone when we should have just pucks in a safe spot. Picks bailed us out and gave us an opportunity to stay in the game but it was just too much.”
On top of the breakaways, there was the tape-to-tape pass from Connor McDavid to Montreal’s Joe Veleno in the Edmonton slot that made it 2-0 Canadiens.
And just when it looked like Edmonton might have a breath of life after closing it to 3-1 on a power play with seven minutes left, another turnover at the offensive blue line set up a two-on-one that sealed it for good.
In scoring 28 goals in their previous five games, Edmonton had been able to outscore their mistakes lately, but that wasn’t happening on this night. The team has been putting things together and playing a more solid, complete game during their 4-0-1 run, but old habits die hard.
“We’re feeling confident, we’ve scored a lot of goals, we’re starting to win, and now some bad habits are creeping into our game,” said Knoblauch. “It really cost us tonight. We gave up five breakaways and two on ones. It’s just not sustainable.”
Was it four or five? When you lose track of the opposition breakaways, you know it’s a bad night.
The funny part is that Pickard stopped four breakaways, several other clean looks and was only beaten by a point-blank shot from the slot following a giveaway, a two-on-one and two power play goals and he comes out of it with a .852 save percentage. And surely, somewhere in Edmonton, somebody is going to blame this one on the goaltending.
Leon Draisaitl #29 of the Edmonton Oilers handles the puck against Oliver Kapanen #91 of the Montréal Canadiens during the third period at the Bell Centre on December 14, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montréal Canadiens defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-1.
There goes the win streak
The Oilers were looking, 33 games into the season, for their first three-game win streak of the year. Now they will have to start over on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.
At 6-3-1 in the last 10 games, they’re on a good track, and one rough night isn’t worth stressing over, but seeing October-November mistakes reappearing is a little stressful just the same.
“Whether it’s something creeping into our game or just a lack or urgency or concentration because there seems to be a game every other night, I’ll leave that up to you,” Ekholm told reporters in Montreal.
“But the last month or so I’ve really liked our game. I’m going to take the positives out of those games. This one we didn’t like but there is going to be a game here or there that you don’t like. Hopefully, we’ll have a response on Tuesday.”
Sour play
Beyond their sloppiness at the offensive blue line, the Oilers can hang this loss on special teams. They had a five-on-three power play for a full minute in the first period after McDavid took a hit from behind and Regula got hooked during the delayed penalty. They applied furious pressure but couldn’t score.
“Their goalie made some unbelievable saves, they made some nice defensive plays and we had an empty net that one of our players (accidentally) blocked,” said Knoblauch.
“That would have made a difference in the game, having the lead. Then the rest of the night, I thought we were forcing it.”
Edmonton didn’t score until their fifth power play of the game to make it 3-1 while the Canadiens went two-for-four, scoring 11 seconds into one of their power plays.
Not so grand
Leon Draisaitl came into the game with 999 career points, on the cusp of becoming only the 103rd player in NHL history, and the first German-born player, to reach 1,000 points.
He was held pointless for just the seventh time this season, but it’s probably for the best that a significant milestone like this didn’t come in a sour defeat like this one.
E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com
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