The Edmonton Oilers lost 6-5 in overtime to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, so does that make them almost as bad as the Canucks?
Probably not, but it was a far cry from the organized game Mike Babcock and the Oilers spent training camp saying they were going to play.
Edmonton scored five goals, including Evan Bouchard's hat trick and still couldn't win. They gave up breakaways, two-on-ones and enough chances that Tristan Jarry spent part of his post-game availability talking about the saves he needed to make and didn't.
“I think there was some moments in the game where I could have done a better job, and I think that could have put us in a better place,” Jarry said.
That's fair, there was plenty happening in front of him, but allowing six goals isn't exactly how he wanted to start a season that was supposed to be his chance to reset.
He knows that too.
“I think just for myself, like I have to be better in those aspects too (breakaways and two-on-ones),” Jarry said. “I think just talking about my game, like I need one or two of those. I think that's the game changer there, and I think that puts us in a better place.”
Babcock's had a lot to say about structure, while players have had a lot to say about playing the right way, and everyone seemed to understand that Edmonton couldn't spend another regular season waiting for its game to show up.
Then they opened the season by losing 6-5.
That's not entirely on Jarry, although he certainly could have helped himself. Edmonton allowed grade-A chances time and time again, and Jarry didn't make enough saves when those mistakes happened. This loss was by all means a team effort.
“You never want to be scored on,” Jarry said. “Obviously, the goalie has the biggest outcome of the game, and when he has those slips or those downs in the game, it makes for a game.”
Well, this certainly made for a game.
This all seems eerily familiar. Much like how last season was spent watching a loaded offensive roster still find ways to lose a game, so too was Tuesday night. Let's not forget, the Oilers spent a lot of time talking about putting together complete games and eventually finished last season admitting they never really figured out how to do it consistently.
Nobody needs to start talking about last season all over again after one game, so let's do as Jarry does and stop.
“I think it's like I said, it's the first game, but you have to learn," Jarry said. "You have to grow from every experience, and I think that's something that we'll do today.”
He's right about that part. It is the first game.
But does this become one bad night that the Oilers learn from, or simply one of many?
That's where last season got away from them. One bad game became another, three-game winning streaks became something worth talking about because they happened so rarely, and the Oilers reached the playoffs without much identity.
Babcock was brought in with a pretty clear idea of how he wanted this team to operate, and he had weeks to install it at the same time the players were talking about details, accountability and understanding exactly what was expected of them.
Opening night didn't look much like that.
There were still five Oilers goals, a point in the standings and 83 games left to play. So we probably don't need to turn a 6-5 overtime loss in September into something it isn't. That said, the Oilers also shouldn't ignore what it was—an embarrassing way to start the season and a long way from where they thought they'd be.
This was the game the Oilers have publicly admitted they've been trying to get away from. Whether it was an opening-night wake-up call or the first of many remains to be seen, but it was evidence enough that there's far more work to be done.
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