{"id":356768,"date":"2025-12-15T05:40:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/356768\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:40:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:40:26","slug":"old-habits-die-hard-as-edmonton-oilers-spanked-by-montreal-canadiens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/356768\/","title":{"rendered":"Old habits die hard as Edmonton Oilers spanked by Montreal Canadiens"},"content":{"rendered":"

And you wonder why the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> keep running through goalies.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got behind in the second and then it was too much run and gun for me,\u201d sighed Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm. \u201cWithout Picks tonight it could have been a lot worse. That is obviously something we have to tighten up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s painted into a corner before trying a soft pass across the blue line. Breakaway.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cgoaltending\u201d trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe breakaways we gave up were just (bad) puck management,\u201d said head coach Kris Knoblauch. \u201cTrying 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

On top of the breakaways, there was the tape-to-tape pass from Connor McDavid<\/a> to Montreal\u2019s Joe Veleno in the Edmonton slot that made it 2-0 Canadiens.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In scoring 28 goals in their previous five games, Edmonton had been able to outscore their mistakes lately, but that wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re feeling confident, we\u2019ve scored a lot of goals, we\u2019re starting to win, and now some bad habits are creeping into our game,\u201d said Knoblauch. \u201cIt really cost us tonight. We gave up five breakaways and two on ones. It\u2019s just not sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was it four or five? When you lose track of the opposition breakaways, you know it\u2019s a bad night.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Leon Draisaitl #29 of the Edmonton Oilers handles the puck against Oliver Kapanen #91 of the Montr\u00e9al Canadiens during the third period at the Bell Centre on December 14, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montr\u00e9al Canadiens defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-1.<\/p>\n

There goes the win streak<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

At 6-3-1 in the last 10 games, they\u2019re on a good track, and one rough night isn\u2019t worth stressing over, but seeing October-November mistakes reappearing is a little stressful just the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s something creeping into our game or just a lack or urgency or concentration because there seems to be a game every other night, I\u2019ll leave that up to you,\u201d Ekholm told reporters in Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the last month or so I\u2019ve really liked our game. I\u2019m going to take the positives out of those games. This one we didn\u2019t like but there is going to be a game here or there that you don\u2019t like. Hopefully, we\u2019ll have a response on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sour play<\/p>\n

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\u2019t score.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir goalie made some unbelievable saves, they made some nice defensive plays and we had an empty net that one of our players (accidentally) blocked,\u201d said Knoblauch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would have made a difference in the game, having the lead. Then the rest of the night, I thought we were forcing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edmonton didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Not so grand<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He was held pointless for just the seventh time this season, but it\u2019s probably for the best that a significant milestone like this didn\u2019t come in a sour defeat like this one.<\/p>\n

E-mail:\u00a0rtychkowski@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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