The Edmonton Oilers suffered their third consecutive defeat, losing 4-3 to the Calgary Flames in the “Battle of Alberta” at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday, heading into the Olympic break.
Scoring twice with the man advantage, Leon Draisaitl was all business, putting the team on blast for sloppy defense and streaky performance.
“We're giving up too many goals,” a drained Draisaitl remarked. “We can't defend. The penalty kill is not great. There are many things that are part of it. It's just not good enough right now.
“We got to defend better. We got to make it easier on him [Tristan Jarry], and then I’m sure he can be a little bit better, too. It’s a two-way street, but it starts with us in front of him, and then the game becomes a little bit easier for him. But I think there are saves that our goalies need to make at some point.”
Jarry allowed four goals on 25 shots for a .840 save rate, dropping his second consecutive game.
Edmonton was undone by poor goaltending, weak penalty killing, and giveaways, relying on the power play for any offense. The team's persistent problems remain unresolved, which is troubling this late in the season.
“Absolutely,” said Draisaitl. “We're not consistent enough. This league is too hard to lollygag through games and trying to get winning streaks going. You need everybody. It starts with coaches. Everybody.
“You're never going to win if you have four or five guys going. It starts at the top. We can be better, our leaders can be better. We'll take the break and regroup.”
Draisaitl isn’t under the illusion that past playoff success will automatically turn this team into a contender again.
“We're a different team,” he said. “We're not the same team. We're not as good right now. We're not even close. We need to understand that. It's time. There is a break now, but when we come back, we have to get going.”
Jonathan Huberdeau scored on the power play at 3:12 of the first period to put Calgary ahead, only for Draisaitl to tie the game 1-1 with a power-play goal at 5:14. The Flames regained the lead on another man-advantage goal by rookie Matvei Gridin, and Connor Zary extended it to 3-1 in the second period. Draisaitl's second power-play goal made it 3-2 before the third period, with Kasperi Kapanen tying the game 3-3 at 4:17. However, Ryan Lomberg scored 2:27 later off a fortunate bounce to give Calgary the 4-3 lead. Flames goalie Devin Cooley finished with 36 saves, including 27 in the final two periods.
Though Draisaitl wasn't on the winning side, he still added to his career milestones. His two power-play markers brought him to 29 goals on the season and 1,035 career points, surpassing Mark Messier for fourth on the Oilers' all-time list. He also recorded a point in six straight games against Calgary (8G, 5A), becoming the sixth player in franchise history to reach 70 points in the Battle of Alberta, joining Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Messier, Glenn Anderson, and Paul Coffey. Evan Bouchard contributed three assists, pushing him past 300 career points.
Edmonton finishes the pre-Olympic stretch at 28-22-8, having allowed 34 goals in their last seven games and losing two more than they have won this season. The Oilers will resume NHL action on February 25 with a three-game road trip in California, beginning against the Anaheim Ducks, followed by the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, before returning home on March 3 to face the Ottawa Senators ahead of the March 6 trade deadline.
