Oilers netminder Tristan Jarry<\/a> made 21 saves, while Calgary goalie Devin Cooley stopped 36 shots in a winning effort. Edmonton went 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Flames were 2-for-3 with the man advantage.<\/p>\n This was the third consecutive loss for the Oilers, who dropped to 28-22-8. With 64 points, Edmonton sits second in the tightly contested Pacific Division, two points back of the Vegas Golden Knights and one point ahead of both the Anaheim Ducks and Seattle Kraken.<\/p>\n Loss to Flames Is Microcosm of Oilers\u2019 Struggles<\/p>\n Fresh off two straight losses to end their lengthy homestand with a disappointing 4-4-0 record, the Oilers badly needed a win on Wednesday to head into the Olympic break on a good note. Now the Oilers have three weeks to stew on what has been a pretty poor stretch of hockey amid a very mediocre season from a team that\u2019s supposed to be a Stanley Cup contender.<\/p>\n Related: Tristan Jarry Right to Call Out Oilers\u2019 Defensive Struggles<\/a><\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s game was pretty much a microcosm of the Oilers\u2019 recent struggles: They played poorly defensively, got subpar goaltending, couldn\u2019t kill a penalty, and were left chasing the game after giving up an early goal.<\/p>\n In fact, when you look at everything that\u2019s going wrong with this team, it\u2019s a wonder the Oilers even had a chance on Wednesday. And yet, there they were, tied at 3-3 in the third period, after Kapanen simply shot the puck<\/a> into Cooley\u2019s body and it somehow wound up in the back of the net.<\/p>\n But the Oilers couldn\u2019t even take advantage of that gift from the hockey gods. Less than two and a half minutes later, Jarry made an easy save but kicked the puck directly to Lomberg<\/a>, who scored what would prove to be the winning goal.<\/p>\n Oilers\u2019 Penalty Kill Is a Disaster<\/p>\n The tone was set on Wednesday only 3:12 into the game, when Huberdeau scored with the man-advantage to put Calgary ahead 1-0. After Draisaitl tied things up by scoring his first of two power-play goals on the night, the Flames retook the lead with another power-play goal, this time from Gridin, at 14:44 of the first period.<\/p>\n Edmonton has the top power play in the NHL, leading the league in both power-play percentage (31.4%) and power-play goals scored (50, tied with the Dallas Stars) this season. Yet, somehow, the Oilers haven\u2019t had the edge in special teams lately, thanks to their horrendous penalty kill.<\/p>\n Over the last five games, Edmonton is just 5-for-14 (35.7%) killing penalties, and many of those nine power-play goals against have proven quite costly, just as was the case at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The most baffling part of Edmonton\u2019s PK problems is that the Oilers had a penalty kill rate of 91.2% over their 15 games between Dec. 22 and Jan. 22, which ranked first in the NHL during that month-long span. Until they get their PK back on track, the Oilers are going to continue having results like their latest in Calgary.<\/p>\n Wednesday was a milestone night for Draisaitl, who moved in front of the legendary Mark Messier for fourth most regular season points in Oilers history (Draisaitl now has 1,036, two more than Messier). But he almost looked distraught when he spoke to the media following the game<\/a>.<\/p>\n Edmonton\u2019s alternate captain held nothing back, as he gave a brutal, but honest, assessment of where his team is at following this latest loss.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not consistent enough,\u201d Draisaitl said. \u201cThis league\u2019s too hard to just lollygag through games and try to get winning streaks going, and we need everybody; it starts with coaches. Like, everybody. You\u2019re never going to win if you have (only) four or five guys going, and it starts at the top. We can be better, our leaders can be better, and we\u2019ll take the break and regroup.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the Oilers\u2019 success of years past (back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final in 2025 and 2026), Draisaitl was even blunter: \u201cWe\u2019re a different team. We\u2019re not the same team. We\u2019re not as good right now, we\u2019re not even close. We need to understand that. It\u2019s time. Obviously, there\u2019s a break now, but when we come back, we\u2019ve got to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n Draisaitl is one of three Oilers, along with fellow German Joshua Samanski and Canadian Connor McDavid, who are headed to Italy to represent their country at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. The Oilers\u2019 next game is Feb. 25, when they visit the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a>![\"Leon](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Leon-Draisaitl-Oilers-1200x857.jpg\")
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Simon Fearn-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n![\"SUBSCRIBE](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oilers_Banner-1200x122.jpg\")
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