5 Oilers takeaways: Draisaitl vs. MacKinnon for Hart, Knoblauch's iron fist and more

New York Times

08-02-2025

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers hung tough with the Colorado Avalanche and battled back in a high-flying affair that had a little bit of everything. They still lost.
Martin Necas scored the winner with 4:22 left in regulation to hand the Oilers a 5-4 defeat in their final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Advertisement
It was a turnover by Oilers winger Zach Hyman in the offensive zone that sparked the rush that led to Necas' decisive goal. Hyman wasn't alone in the puck mismanagement department. It was just that his error was the costliest.
'They're probably the most dangerous team off the rush and we kept feeding that transition,' Hyman said. 'I take responsibility for the last one. I tried to force it in there to make a play. Probably not the right time to do that against that line and they go and capitalize, and we lose the game.'
The good news for the Oilers is they're 34-17-4 and remain in first place in the Pacific Division.
But they limped into their respite by going 2-2-1 in their final five games. Both wins came in overtime after blowing third-period leads, too. That's the ugly part.
'The break comes at a right time for once,' superstar Leon Draisaitl said. 'Obviously (we need to) get back to playing collective good hockey when we come back.'
Here are five takeaways from their pre-international tournament finale, things that speak to the bigger picture at hand.
The Oilers never led against the Avalanche. The way the Oilers lost has become par for the course for most of the new year.
Since their defeat in Pittsburgh on Jan. 9, Edmonton has allowed multiple goals in the first period in eight of the 15 games. They've also trailed at some point in 10 of those contests.
That's not becoming of a Stanley Cup contender.
'I didn't love our game the last couple nights,' Draisaitl said. 'Maybe it's a little bit of fatigue kicking in or mentally we weren't as sharp as we needed to be.'
The Oilers kept chipping away against the Avalanche but were the second-best team far too often. It's almost like being forced to do that so often has taken a toll on the players from the top of the lineup on down.
Advertisement
'It's tough,' veteran winger Corey Perry said. 'All of a sudden, the big guys are playing 25, 26, 27 minutes because we're chasing the game early.
'We've talked a little bit about having better starts. This break probably came at a good time for us to regroup and take some time away from the game and come back refreshed.'
"I think we had every opportunity to win that game after that penalty kill. We had some great chances going the other way & we didn't capitalize on those."
Coach Knoblauch on the #Oilers third-period push after killing a 5-on-3.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/ECDk44k24f
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 8, 2025
It feels like I get asked about Stuart Skinner and Evan Bouchard in each of my Tuesday appearances on the Lowdown with Lowetide on Sports 1440. That's not a criticism of host Allan Mitchell, my colleague here at The Athletic. It only makes sense.
Skinner and Bouchard are crucial players to the Oilers. In Skinner's case, he's been one of the better goalies overall since late November. Bouchard boasts excellent underlying numbers.
But they're also prone to making costly errors and that was apparent on Friday. Coach Kris Knoblauch noted and reacted.
Skinner was pulled between the first and second periods after allowing three goals on 12 shots. Nathan MacKinnon beating him five hole and a Cale Makar attempt that he didn't catch got his coach's attention for the wrong reasons.
'The first two (goals against), I felt he could have had,' Knoblauch said. 'I didn't think he found those (shots) and was looking for them right.'
Bouchard also had his struggles.
He had a third-period shift where he caught up the puck twice in his zone. His biggest mistake came when he made a turnover after attempting to swing it back to Connor McDavid in the Oilers zone on an Oilers power play. That resulted in a short-handed marker by Makar. That kept him off the ice for almost four minutes.
Advertisement
Knoblauch ruled more with an iron fist than a feathered touch on Friday.
'It's happened to everybody,' Perry said. 'At a certain point in your career, it's going to happen. You use it as motivation, you do the right things, and you put it behind you and move forward. It's only going to make you better.'
"They're more upset about the result tonight than individual achievements… They're chasing that big one & everyone else is as well."
Corey Perry on Draisaitl & McDavid after Leon hit 40 goals.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/twqQWRwLYC
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 8, 2025
MacKinnon was the best player on the ice. It's nearly impossible to dispute that. He scored once and recorded three assists and was the driver on two of the last three goals the Avalanche netted.
MacKinnon now leads the NHL with 87 points, four ahead of Draisaitl — who scored twice on Friday.
If Draisaitl wasn't the Oilers' best player, he was certainly on the short list. Just add it to the number of outstanding performances from Draisaitl's season. He notched goals 39 and 40, which ranks atop all his league peers.
Draisaitl got his first goal by winning a faceoff on a power play, sliding over to his one-timer spot and then letting one fly after getting a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. On his second, he danced around MacKinnon in the slot, shot as he fell and then roofed a rebound from his knees.
'He's got a knack,' Perry said. 'He continues to find ways. He's one of the best in the world for a reason. He shows it each and every night.'
This could be shaping up to be an excellent Hart Trophy battle down the stretch, though Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck might have something to say about that.
It's now five games into the John Klingberg era. Thoughts of him being a bona fide top-four blueliner for the Oilers should be shelved — at least for now.
Advertisement
Friday's outing was particularly tough for Klingberg. He was on the ice for two Avalanche goals at five-on-five.
Though Klingberg just joined the fray off a line change, he didn't close his gap fast enough on MacKinnon on Colorado's third goal. That resulted in MacKinnon finding Artturi Lehkonen for a goal off the rush. He was caught up ice after Hyman's turnover on the winner.
Per Natural Stat Trick, Klingberg's 32.2 expected goals percentage at five-on-five was fourth-worst on the team and ranked last among Oilers defencemen. He played 16:23, more than only Ty Emberson among Edmonton rearguards.
The Oilers have seven more games before the trade deadline once their schedule resumes Feb. 22 in Philadelphia. They might need every one of those to understand what they have in Klingberg and what they need ahead of the trade deadline.
Perry now has four goals in his last six games after scoring twice on Friday. He's up to 12 goals on the season, which is good for fifth on the team.
'He's a living legend in the game,' Draisaitl said. 'He's going to be a Hall of Famer. We're very fortunate that we have him.'
Perry's 1.09 goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five ranks second on the Oilers behind Draisaitl's 1.17, per NST. That's quite the accomplishment for the 39-year-old, but it also speaks to the need for more offensive production up front.
That could come in the form of more five-on-five goals from those on the roster. Of players with scoring chops, the Oilers could use a few more from Viktor Arvidsson (0.68 goals per 60 minutes), Nugent-Hopkins (0.59), Vasily Podkolzin (0.53) and Connor Brown (0.46).
Failing a bump from them, it might behoove management to seek a scorer in the form of a top-nine winger before the trade deadline.
(Photo of Leon Draisaitl racing for the puck against Colorado's Jack Drury: Leila Devlin / Getty Images)