Evan Bouchard had what will likely be the worst game of his 2025-26 season as the Oilers lost to the New York Islanders.
The Edmonton Oilers were coming into their game Thursday night against the New York Islanders, having not played well against the New York Rangers, but picking up two points. They entered the game 2-0-1 against an 0-3 Islanders team searching for its first victory. The Islanders were more desperate, and while some credit should go to the opposition, it's fair to argue that the Oilers created their own problems.
Much of the postgame conversation centered around one player: Evan Bouchard.
This loss was more than one player failing to show up, but it was a night to forget for the $10.5 million defenseman. Bouchard found himself at the center of nearly every key mistake that swung the game in New York’s favor. He has always been known as a high-risk, high-reward blueliner —but the risks far outweighed the rewards on this night.
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From the opening period, the warning signs were there. Bouchard’s short passes behind the net repeatedly failed to connect, leading to turnovers and unnecessary pressure on Stuart Skinner. Midway through the first, he had his pocket picked clean by Mathew Barzal, who walked in uncontested and scored unassisted to make it 1–0 Islanders. It was a simple play — and a mistake Bouchard can’t afford to make. It set the tone for a shaky night for both the defenseman and his teammates.
Misreads, missed coverages, and poor puck management continued to generate breakaways and odd-man rushes against. When the Islanders scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game 2–2, Bouchard was again front and center on the play. It marked the second consecutive power play where his positioning and decisions led directly to danger going the other way.
Bouchard kept making mistakes throughout the first two periods, eventually being pulled off a power play shift early.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch didn’t hide his frustration postgame, calling the team’s lack of awareness and discipline “unacceptable.” Asked specifically about Bouchard, Knoblauch said, “I’ve seen Evan play better." When asked if accepting the good with the bad is just something the team has to do with a player like Bouchard, Knoblauch responded, "We cannot just accept that. Mistakes happen, but you have to address what types of mistakes are happening. Evan is a fantastic player, one of the best defensemen in the NHL ... tonight was not his night. I've always seen him respond and play much better after games like this."
He said the player and the team will learn, and they will move on from it.
Bouchard Has to Eliminate These Lows From His Game
At $10.5 million per season, Bouchard isn’t just another young defenseman learning on the job — he’s being paid like a cornerstone. With that comes accountability. Jason Strudwick and Ryan Rishaug of the Got Yer' Back podcast both agreed that Bouchard's floor remains alarmingly low, and Thursday’s game was the kind of showing that will make it so Bouchard never gets a sniff at Team Canada.
“When it's not going my way, I've got to find a way to make different plays,” Bouchard said post-game.
The loss itself was avoidable. Edmonton outshot New York and had enough power-play opportunities to take control. Instead, Bo Horvat’s hat trick, capped with an empty-netter, sealed the 4–2 loss, one the Oilers can only blame on themselves.
Veteran Mattias Ekholm said after the game, “Every once in a while you have one of those. We did it to ourselves.” Ekholm was also there to try and prop Bouchard up after a poor outing. He noted, “People can be hard on him for the mistakes, but you also have to look at the upside of what he brings. One of Evan’s superpowers is that he forgets quick.”
That short memory will be tested as the team will need him to bounce back strong on Saturday. Edmonton can’t afford to keep relearning the same lessons on the fly, and with the result being the team unable to get two points they should have gotten.
Knoblauch believes that the team and Bouchard will respond, and reminded the media that history suggests he usually does.
If Bouchard wants to justify his new contract and cement himself as Edmonton’s long-term No. 1 defenseman, games like this one have to become a thing of the past.
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