"Connor Wasn't Going To Let Us Lose:" Oilers Grind Out A Response

The Edmonton Oilers walked into Rogers Place on Monday night carrying the weight of a 9-1 humiliation from Saturday. The kind of loss that breaks teams or builds them. And Connor McDavid wasn't going to let it be the former.

"Connor wasn't going to let us lose tonight. He was so focused on getting the job done," began head coach Kris Knoblauch. "And, I've seen Conor rise to the occasion, play some tremendous games, and I'm not going to say this was his best game that I've seen him play, but under the circumstances, it's got a rate up there, just because he was so determined to get the job done.

"And, you know, he had an incredible night, two fabulous goals, but there was just so much determination to his game and he just willed the team to win."

This one wasn't pretty. The Oilers trailed 3-1 after two periods. They fell behind 4-2 early in the third. But something was different about this game, something that's been missing for most of this season. They brought fight. They brought physicality. They brought energy that said Saturday's embarrassment actually meant something to them.

Trent Frederic and Mathieu Olivier dropped the gloves just two minutes into the game, exchanging heavy blows in a fight that set the tone for what Edmonton needed to be. Not skill. Nothing fancy. Just a willingness to battle for every inch of ice against a Columbus team that came in winless and with something to prove.

"Huge credit to Freddie (Frederic)," added McDavid. "Taking on that guy, trying to give us a spark. Can't say enough good things about him—that was huge. Not a lot of guys take on that guy. We talked about guys getting out of their comfort zone, and guys responded.

"Guys came out crashing and banging. A little more emotion which is all good stuff."

Oilers Stumble, Recover, And Steal One Against The Blue Jackets In OT The Oilers fought through a shaky second period and a fired-up crowd. That said, late heroics to snatch a dramatic overtime victory from the Blue Jackets is what everyone will remember.

The Blue Jackets registered 63 hits. The Oilers answered with their own physical presence. This was grind-it-out hockey, the kind that's won in corners and along the boards rather than with highlight-reel plays. The kind the Oilers have talked about needing all season but rarely delivered.

Then there was McDavid, who simply refused to accept another loss.

His first goal came 58 seconds into the third period with Edmonton trailing 3-1. He spun around Denton Mateychuk, causing the defenseman to fall, then fired a backhand to the top shelf through traffic that beat Jet Greaves. The kind of individual brilliance that reminds everyone why he's the best player in the world, delivered exactly when his team needed it most.

His second goal came later in the third. Evan Bouchard stripped the puck in the neutral zone while McDavid skated around Kirill Marchenko like he wasn't there and beat Greaves point-blank to make it 4-3.

"It Was A Humbling Night:" Oilers Accept Reality Check After getting demolished 9-1 by Colorado at Rogers Place, the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers#google_vignette">Edmonton Oilers</a> are finally saying what's been obvious for weeks: things need to actually change. Not the usual post-game platitudes about executing better or sticking to the game plan. Real change. Players need to alter their approach. Effort needs to increase. The way they've been operating isn't working, and everyone in that locker room knows it now.

Two goals in one period from a player who's been criticized for not shooting enough this season. Two goals that kept Edmonton alive when, two nights ago, they'd have been dead.

Jake Walman scored a short-handed goal with 58 seconds left in regulation, his second of the night, to tie it 4-4 and force overtime. Jack Roslovic won it 56 seconds into OT on a breakaway, catching Columbus in a bad line change and ending Edmonton's three-game skid with a 5-4 victory. The Oilers are now 7-6-4, still below .500, still searching for consistency. But last night felt different than the losses that preceded it.

This was a response. Not a perfect game—far from it. Stuart Skinner allowed four goals on 13 shots before getting pulled—again. Evan Bouchard got benched, and Andrew Mangiapane is to blame for a goal against. Columbus outshot Edmonton, had more scoring chances, and controlled the puck for long stretches.

Have The Oilers Lost Belief In Their Goaltending? Kris Knoblauch's careful response about the Oilers' goaltending hints at deeper doubts. Has the team lost faith in Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard?

But the Oilers fought. They hit. They battled back from two-goal deficits twice. They showed the kind of desperation and determination that's been absent for most of the season. They looked like a team that was genuinely bothered by getting embarrassed Saturday and decided to do something about it.

"I think there's a belief in the room that we'll always figure it out," McDavid said before the game. "That being said, I said it before, enough is enough. We've got to find a way to just put a good game together."

This wasn't a complete game. But it was a game where they found a way to win despite not having their best. Where they showed resilience instead of folding. Where their best player elevated when it mattered most and pulled everyone else along with him.

Veteran Forward Sidelined As Oilers Face Blue Jackets In Bounceback Game The Edmonton Oilers will face the Blue Jackets without key forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, whose injury adds pressure to a team seeking a crucial bounce-back performance.

The Blue Jackets will be frustrated that they couldn't hold onto 3-1 and 4-2 leads, and they should. They outplayed Edmonton for most of the game. But hockey isn't always about who plays better—sometimes it's about who wants it more in crucial moments. Tonight, that was the Oilers.

"(Fans) deserve to boo," began Walman. "It's not a cheap ticket. And these fans love this team. We love the fans. We're trying to do as much as we can, but we (weren't) performing out there."

"So we're trying our hardest. We know it's a hard-working city, and that's what we need to do."

This doesn't fix everything that's broken. The defensive issues remain. The inconsistency at even strength persists. The blown leads and structural problems aren't solved by one comeback win. But it's something. It's proof that when this team brings effort, physicality, and refusal to quit, they can beat anyone.

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McDavid wasn't going to let them lose tonight. He scored twice to bring them back from the dead. He showed what's possible when the best player in the world decides a game matters too much to let slip away. The rest of the team followed his lead, bringing the fight and energy that's been missing.

One game doesn't define a season. But after getting demolished 9-1 at home, the Oilers needed to show they could respond. They needed to prove Saturday hurt them enough to change something. They needed their captain to refuse to accept losing becoming a habit.

They got all of that Monday night, and then some.

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