Edmonton Oilers scary bad in yet another loss

Edmonton Oilers scary bad in yet another loss

Article content

How bad do you have to be to get booed off your own ice on Hall of Fame night?

Edmonton Oilers bad.

Article content

The second-worst team in the NHL through the first seven games of the season lived down to its reputation Thursday, embarrassing itself and everyone else in Rogers Place with a flustered and disjointed 3-0 loss to the New York Rangers.

Edmonton’s second game without injured captain Connor McDavid was even worse than the first, which is pretty bad considering the first was a 7-4 slap in the mouth that saw Minnesota pump them 5-1 in the third period.

Article content

This time, the collapse came in the second. After surviving an opening period in which they didn’t get their third shot until the 15-minute mark, Edmonton wilted like daisies in an oven when New York turned up the heat.

They gave up three goals, half a dozen odd-man rushes and at least that many wide-open looks. If not for goaltender Stuart Skinner and two goalposts, it’s probably 6-0 Rangers after 40.

Warren Foegele (37)of the Edmonton Oilers, passed across the crease of Jonathan Quick(32) of the New York Rangers at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Oct. 26, 2023.Photo by Shaughn Butts-Postmedia Photo by Shaughn Butts /Shaughn Butts

Still, it was bad enough that fans who wanted to be on their best behaviour on the night Doug Weight and Charlie Huddy were inducted into the Oilers Hall of Fame couldn’t hold their anger back any longer and booed the home team off the ice.

Boooo? The only ghost on this night was Edmonton’s offence. The defence was kind of spooky, as well.

Oilers, now 1-5-1 and in 31st place in the 32-team league, look to be in total disarray. The defensive breakdowns are still happening all over the place. New York dissected them in this one.

And up front, where they are supposed to be simplifying their game — pounding the puck at the net and crashing for rebounds and deflections — they spent the first two periods trying to pass the puck past Jonathan Quick with very limited success.

Article content

They capped the night by making it seven games this season without scoring a third-period goal.

Something has to give, and soon.

Oilers
Evander Kane (91) of the Edmonton Oilers, skates over the blue line watched by Jacob Trouba(8) of the New York Rangers at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Oct. 26, 2023.Photo by Shaughn Butts-Postmedia Photo by Shaughn Butts /Shaughn Butts

Hung out to dry

Stuart Skinner came into the game with the second-worst save percentage in the NHL (.814 after 11 goals against on 59 shots) but he was on top of his game in this one. With the shots 21-10 New York through 30 minutes it was still only 1-0 Rangers on a power play goal.

Easing in

With the urgency of a 1-4-1 start, the pageantry of a Hall of Fame ceremony and the presence of a few dozen Oilers alumni, you would have expected the Oilers to storm out of the gate and grab this game by the throat.

Instead, they were lukewarm at best. New York outshot them 6-1 through the first 10 minutes and were up 10-5 at the intermission.

Oilers
Charlie Huddy, sitting and Doug Weight, at the podium were inducted into the Edmonton Oilers Hall of fame before the game with the New York Rangers at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Oct. 26, 2023.Photo by Shaughn Butts-Postmedia Photo by Shaughn Butts /Shaughn Butts

Fame game

The evening began with a pre-game ceremony inducting Charlie Huddy and Doug Weight into the Oilers Hall of Fame.

Though the two Oilers greats are from long-ago eras, they are still revered by Edmonton’s current players, who understand the impact they had on the franchise and the city.

“Two legendary players in our organization who are being recognized for what they’ve done for the team and the community,” said Leon Draisaitl. “It’s a special night for them and their families. We had our game to worry about but we’re excited to be a part of it.”

E-mail: [email protected]

Share this article in your social network