February 19, 2023 by Ryan Lotsberg

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The Edmonton Oilers have been so close yet so far away since the All-Star break. They have lost four of their last five games in overtime or a shootout, including the last three in a row.

Two of those losses were to teams they were expected to beat. They didn’t bring their legs with them to Philadelphia, but managed to scratch and claw their way to overtime. However, they lost in the shootout. They had beaten the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 the week before, but had to forge a third period comeback to get the game to overtime. We know how the shootout ended.

These last two losses were particularly painful because the Oilers had three goal leads in each one. They got off to a quick start against the New York Rangers, but they let the Rangers crawl back into it. The penalty kill failed the Oilers that night. Then came the defending Stanley Cup champions. Once again, the Oilers started hot. It was 3-0 with twelve minutes left in the second period. Colorado got a couple of lucky bounces and capitalized on a couple of mistakes by Jack Campbell on their way to a comeback overtime victory.

The Oilers squandered four points in a tight dogfight of a Pacific Division race. They can’t afford to be blowing three goal leads when the race is so tight. Things happen sometimes, but elite teams don’t let it happen twice in a row.

It wasn’t long ago that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were automatic in overtime, but the Oilers have now lost seven straight in extra time. Part of it is about execution on their part, and part of it is that other teams have started to get accustomed to defending them at three-on-three. I think part of it is their late game deployment as well. Jay Woodcroft likes to throw McDavid and Draisaitl out for the last shift of regulation time, and then they go right back out to start overtime. They take a long shift to start the extra period, and then they alternate shifts for the duration of the game. They’re elite athletes, but it might be wise to start giving them more of a chance to regenerate before overtime so they have more burst for the overtime period. It might also be time to start getting other guys like Ryan McLeod and Kailer Yamamoto into the rotation. I can’t tell you why the team can’t score in the shootout. I do know that Draisaitl’s slap shot was a sign that he’s frustrated and needs to sit out the next shootout.

These last two games were good measuring stick games for the Oilers. The Rangers were Eastern Conference finalists last season, and they just bolstered their roster by adding Vladimir Tarasenko. Obviously Colorado won the whole bloody thing last year. They showed that they could hang with those teams, but their inability to seal the deal changed the discourse about the Oilers. It could’ve been “look out, the Oilers just took down two top contenders”, but now it’s “this team is so close, yet so far away from winning a Cup.”

Related: Tarasenko Trade Makes the Rangers True Contenders

One has to wonder if falling just short in these last two measuring stick games will light a fire under Ken Holland’s behind to get a deal done in short order. They still have just under two weeks until the trade deadline, and they have tests against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Winnipeg Jets before the deadline. I don’t think these two losses will force Holland’s hand. Those next four games against tough opponents might though.

Illness has made its rounds through the Oilers room in the last week or so. Vincent Desharnais, Klim Kostin, and Leon Draisaitl were all sick recently. Jesse Puljujarvi had a “maintenance day” on Thursday. The Oilers were playing short-handed in the last two games because of cap gymnastics and sudden illness or injury (Evander Kane missed the Colorado game with an “upper body injury”. I’m sure playing in the Mile High city with a virus in the room didn’t help matters, but there’s no excuse for blowing a three goal lead. The forwards are used to playing with eleven since Woodcroft uses that lineup often, and the defence should be used to playing with six men because that’s a standard scenario. No team is at 100% this time of the season. The Oilers don’t get a pass from me on their post All-Star break play. They are capable of being better, and they need to start bringing it again ASAP.