Pressure continues to mount for the Edmonton Oilers and their Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde way of playing. In their search through the past to find their game, they’ll have to play a prehistoric animal.

The Oilers homestand began with two solid victories. The homestand finished with an emotionally flat game against Florida and being outclassed by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Whether he intended to or not, Connor McDavid threw a couple of logs on the coaching criticism fire, and the Oilers hit the highway looking for their game.

After a horrendous 0/6 showing the day before, the out-of-town scoreboard couldn’t bail them out on Sunday, as the “pillow fight” Pacific Division did win some games. Now they sit one point back of the Golden Knights, and five behind the Anaheim Ducks.

To McDavid’s point, they are fortunate to be in this division. Edmonton can dig its way out from a results standpoint through the Pacific, with seven of the team’s final 11 games being intra-divisional.

Standing in their way is a wildcard team that will likely draw into the Pacific playoff bracket in the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night.

Team in flux

The frustration level is high.

One area you could argue the team misses Leon Draisaitl the most is on the powerplay. In the three-and-three-quarter games since Draisaitl’s injury against the Nashville Predators, which he’s seeking treatment for in Germany, the Oilers are 1/12 on the man advantage.

Edmonton has been able to survive inconsistent even-strength play in 2025-26 with another year of historically good powerplay output, but failing on the 5-on-3 chance in the second period vs the Lightning and getting scored on shorthanded was a nail in the Oilers’ coffin.

I wonder if Jack Roslovic gets a chance. Knoblauch has used Matt Savoie primarily, but the team misses a shot-first weapon other than Evan Bouchard, who came oh-so-close nailing the crossbar. Roslovic has three powerplay goals and 17 total on the season.

Tony Brar 🚀

@TonyBrarOTV

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