Slow starts, defensive breakdowns, and questionable goaltending plague the Oilers. Another loss means frustration mounts as tough road trip continues and fingers are pointing everywhere.
When everything is broken, who takes the blame? That's a question fans and analysts are asking on Friday morning as a tired group of Edmonton Oilers lands in the wee hours of the morning on Friday to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, with a 7-4 loss to the Washington Capitals fresh in their minds.
The Oilers didn’t just lose in Washington — they got buried early, dug themselves out, and then fell right back into the same pattern they’ve been stuck in all season. This seven-game road trip can't end soon enough, and as fingers point, it's becoming clear there's no single problem explaining the mess that has been the start of this 2025-26 season.
This team is 9-9-4, hasn’t won a game in regulation since October 28, and keeps repeating the habits that are causing frustration: slow starts, defensive breakdowns, and goaltending that never gets the timely save they desperately need.
Fans aren’t wrong to be upset, but finding a fix is easier said than done.
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Another Brutal Start
Edmonton gave up three goals in the first 10 minutes. Sure, they responded with a couple goals of their own, but slot coverage issues, blown battles, and a complete inability to box out was the tale of the opening period.
Brett Kulak struggled again -- the point people have to be asking what is going on with him. Bouchard was outmuscled in a one-on-one battle that no NHLer should lose that badly. Ironically, the best player on the ice might have been the one taking the most heat of late, as Darnell Nurse tried to drag the team back into the fight with two goals of his own.
The Oilers didn't respond when the opportunity to gain some momentum arrived.
"It's very disappointing, because you dig a hole and you fight to get back out of it, and then you're in that hole again," said head coach Kris Knoblauch. "This group is a resilient group. They are frustrated, but they are resilient and don't give up."
Knoblauch was right. The Oilers didn't give up. They pushed in the third period to make it a game, but ultimately allowed two empty-net goals which sealed their fate.
The Defensive Crisis Is One That Can No Longer Be Ignored
The Oilers are dead last in goals against, last in 5-on-5 goals against, and last in team save percentage. That’s not a slump — that’s an identity.
Even the players are running out of ways to explain it. They keep saying all the right things before and after games, but talk is cheap. Either this team doesn't have the fire to do what they know they need to, or they don't have the ability. Those are two entirely different problems.
"It's tough to win games when you're giving up five before the empty netter," Nurse said. "So we gotta clean it up defensively and keep the puck out."
Forward David Tomasek echoed the same tune.
"That's too many goals against, so we gotta find a way to be better, especially on a long road trip like this," Tomasek said. "Tomorrow's another day and a new chance."
At some point, though, “tomorrow” is too late.
The Blame Game Is Coming
Right now, fans are pointing everywhere: the goalies, the blue line, the coaching staff, the lineup choices, and Stan Bowman’s roster construction that appears to be aging poorly, and the big contracts that were handed out look like bad bets. But the Oilers aren’t changing their goalies, their core blueliners, and big changes at forward aren't on the horizon.
This is a team that needs to dig themselves out the hole they've dug. This is a group that has to find a way to make every period in every game look like the final 10 minutes of period three against the Capitals (sans the two goals with no goaltender).
To a man, the players in that locker room need to look around and start holding each other accountable. You can blame Stuart Skinner, who finished Wednesday night with a .737 save percentage. That would be letting 18 other players off the hook. You can blame the defense, but it's clear the goaltender wasn't good enough. It makes sense to point fingers at the coach for his constant line juggling, but if any of us were in his shoes, how quickly would we go to our nuclear weapons of McDavid and Draisaitl if the team were down two goals in the first three minutes?
The good news, if they can scrap two or three points out of their final two road games. If they can do that, things lighten up a touch. Should the Oilers lose to both Tampa and Florida, the feeling that the sky is falling will be very real.
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