Nobody knows what to expect from the Edmonton Oilers anymore. Not the fans. Not the media. Probably not even the players themselves. One night they beat Carolina on the road playing exciting, physical hockey. Two nights later they lose 5-1 to Buffalo. They commit to playing with more urgency, then deliver low-effort performances that make you wonder if anyone's actually listening.
Wednesday night in Washington captured everything that's just circled this team this whole away trip. The Oilers matched pace with the Capitals for most of the game. They scored four goals. McDavid and Draisaitl were producing. They clawed back from deficits multiple times. And they still lost 7-4 after allowing five goals with Stuart Skinner in net and two empty-netters to seal it.
That's where this team is right now. Competing but not winning. Generating offense but hemorrhaging goals. Looking capable one shift and completely lost the next. The inconsistency isn't just game-to-game anymore—it's period-to-period, sometimes shift-to-shift.
"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," began Kris Knoblauch. "This group is a resilient group. They are frustrated, but they are resilient and don't give up. We've seen that time and time again, so we have to stay with it."
Skinner allowed five goals on 19 shots before getting pulled. He had a .737 save percentage to show for it. Against Washington. A team that came in 9-8-1 and just as inconsistent as Edmonton. The kind of opponent the Oilers knew would be difficult, but not unbeatable, especially when they're scoring four goals and getting production from McDavid, Draisaitl, and the depth players.
But that's not how this season works. The Oilers can score four and still lose by three. They can match an opponent's intensity and still give up seven goals total. They can do everything right offensively and still watch their goaltending and defensive structure fall apart at crucial moments.
How Seriously Should Oilers Fans Take Connor Clattenburg?
Connor Clattenburg spent 26 minutes in the penalty box Saturday night. Two fights, a 10-minute misconduct, and enough chippy play to make Coachella Valley want to send him a bill for emotional damages. The Bakersfield Condors won 6-3. Clattenburg didn’t score. He didn’t set up a goal. He did exactly what he’s supposed to do, and that’s the story.
"It's tough to win games when you're giving up five before the empty netter," added Darnell Nurse. "So we gotta clean it up defensively and keep the puck out."
This game wasn't about effort. Edmonton competed. They battled back from 2-0 down to make it 3-2. They cut a 4-2 deficit to 4-3 early in the third. Nurse scored twice. David Tomasek scored. McDavid set up Draisaitl's power play goal to make it 5-4 with over 12 minutes left. They were in the game until the very end when Washington put it away with empty-netters.
The problem was the goals against. Aliaksei Protas scoring 2:17 into the game. Alex Ovechkin deflecting a point shot at 6:04. Ryan Leonard scoring twice, including a goal where he muscled around Evan Bouchard, deked, and lifted a backhand past Skinner. Anthony Beauvillier scoring on a 2-on-1 rush. Five goals on 19 shots before Calvin Pickard came in to stop the bleeding.
That's not sustainable. You can't give up five goals on 19 shots and expect to win hockey games, no matter how much offense you generate. The Oilers have now allowed 79 goals through 22 games—second-most in the Pacific Division. That's the defensive reality no amount of McDavid and Draisaitl magic can overcome.
Nugent-Hopkins Won’t Join Oilers on Road Trip, Expected Return Timeline
Nugent-Hopkins remains sidelined for the current Oilers' road trip. He's targeting a return by month's end, potentially against Seattle, after battling a head injury.
"That's the good thing, I guess, about the league -- you travel a lot, you play a lot, but we have to change some things for sure," Tomasek said. "That's too many goals against, so we gotta find a way to be better, especially on a long road trip like this. Tomorrow's another day and a new chance."
So, yah, this is where the Oilers are at: They'll beat Carolina with Hyman back in the lineup, playing physical and engaged hockey. Then they lose to Buffalo 5-1 two nights later. They score four goals against Washington and still lose by three. They commit to better defensive structure one night and give up seven goals the next.
What version of the Oilers shows up on any given night? Nobody knows. Not even the team themselves can answer that question with any confidence. The Oilers have the ability to compete with anyone when they're dialed in. They've proven that multiple times this season. The problem is they can't maintain that standard for more than a game or two before reverting to the version that can't protect leads or stop opponents from scoring at will.
Oilers Skilled Prospect Is On Fire In AHL
This Oilers prospect is heating up in a big way down in the AHL.
The Capitals should have been winnable. They're sitting eighth in the Metropolitan Division. They're not an elite team. They're not even playing particularly well this season. But they scored seven goals on Edmonton because the Oilers' defence struggled repeatedly and Skinner couldn't bail them out when it mattered.
The Oilers might beat Tampa Bay on Thursday. Or they might get run out of the building. They might go on a winning streak. Or they might lose three straight and fall further behind in the playoff race. There's no way to know which version will show up, and that's the most frustrating part of this entire season.
Wednesday night in Washington was just another example of a team that nobody can figure out. Not because they're complicated or mysterious, but because they're different every night. Sometimes good. Sometimes bad. Often somewhere in between. Always unpredictable in ways that make it impossible to trust them with anything important.
Is Zach Hyman Being Demoted or Trusted? Oilers’ Line Change Sparks Debate
Zach Hyman drops to the third line on Wednesday vs the Capitals. Is it a demotion, or a calculated move to spark the struggling Oilers and elevate teammates?
The Oilers matched Washington's pace for most of the game and still allowed seven goals total. That's this season in a nutshell. Competing without winning. Generating offense without defending. Looking capable while delivering results that say otherwise.
They're 9-9-4. Still below .500. Still searching for the consistency that separates pretenders from contenders. Still impossible to figure out after 22 games. And that's the problem—at some point, you need to know what you are. The Oilers still don't. And until they do, these frustrating, unpredictable losses will keep piling up no matter how much talent wears their jersey.
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