3 Takeaways From Oilers’ 3-2 Shootout Loss to Red Wings

In the early going, it looked like Edmonton might run away with the game. Draisaitl scored on the power play at 6:49 of the first period, and less than four minutes later, Jeff Skinner put the Oilers up 2-0 with a goal at 10:29.

But after giving up two goals on Edmonton’s first eight shots, Lyon slammed the door shut. Detroit’s netminder stopped the final 39 shots he faced, giving his team a chance to come back.

Edmonton was ultimately done in by a sloppy two-minute stretch midway through the second period, which saw Rasmussen deflect home a shot by Jonatan Berggren at 9:59 before Larkin tallied at 11:47 to level the scoreboard.

Oilers’ First Shootout This Season

The teams remained deadlocked through the end of regulation, necessitating overtime. Edmonton had every reason to feel confident about its chances in 3-on-3: Going into Thursday’s game, the Oilers had a record of 7-3 in sudden death this season, including a 3-2 OT victory over Detroit on Draisaitl’s birthday at the end of October.

But things went sideways for Edmonton when forward Zach Hyman was penalized for interference at 1:40 of overtime, giving Detroit a dangerous 4-on-3 power-play opportunity that usually ends badly for the short-handed team. To their credit, Edmonton’s penalty-killers played tremendously, limiting the Red Wings to just two shots during their power play, both of which were stopped by Stuart Skinner.

With still nothing solved after five minutes of sudden death, the game moved on to a shootout. It was Edmonton’s first time going to the post-OT skills contest since March 9, 2024, and it showed.

Starting off the shootout, Oilers captain Connor McDavid went forehand-to-backhand, but couldn’t beat Lyon. Detroit’s Lucas Raymond then out-waited Skinner before burying the puck for a 1-0 advantage. On Edmonton’s second attempt, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins bobbled the puck and couldn’t get a shot off, setting the stage for Larkin’s decisive goal.

It’s now over 13 months since the Oilers last prevailed in a shootout, defeating the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 30, 2023. Edmonton is just 2-6 in the shootout since the start of the 2022-23 season.

Klingberg Makes Edmonton Debut

Thursday marked the first game as an Oiler for veteran defenceman John Klingberg, who Edmonton signed to a one-year contract on Jan. 17. He had last suited up for an NHL contest in November 2023, when he was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s since undergone surgery on both hips.

Unfortunately for the newest Oiler, he was involved in Detroit’s first goal. While Klingberg was on his man, Rasmussen, at the front of the net, he couldn’t prevent the Red Wings centre from tipping Berggren’s shot past Skinner.

That aside, the 32-year-old looked solid in his debut. Paired with fellow Swede Mattias Ekholm, Klingberg played 16:39, all at even strength, and displayed a nice touch with the puck. He finished the game with one shot, one giveaway, and a minus-1 rating.

“I felt ok with the puck, I let the game come to me and made some good passes,” Klingberg said while speaking to media after the game. “But off the puck, maybe (I need to) get a little bit more timing into it, with gaps and reading off the team and stuff like that. But it was an ok first game.”

Edmonton is now 3-1-1 on its current six-game homestand, which concludes Saturday (Feb. 1) when the Oilers host the Toronto Maple Leafs in primetime on Hockey Night in Canada.