4 Takeaways From Oilers’ 3-2 Loss to Ducks

Despite going ahead 1-0 in the first period, Edmonton couldn’t protect its lead. Anaheim scored three straight goals, spanning the second and third periods, to send the Oilers to their second consecutive loss.

Edmonton finishes the road trip going 2-2-0, while its 2024-25 season record drops to 44-28-5 for a total of 93 points through 77 games.

Oilers Missing Star Players

Several Oilers missed Monday’s tilt because of injury: top-pairing defenceman Mattias Ekholm, recently acquired forward Trent Frederic, and No. 1 goaltender Stuart Skinner. The most significant sidelined players, however, were superstar forwards Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.

This was Edmonton’s fifth game of 2024-25 with both Draisaitl and McDavid sidelined, and while the Oilers managed to win their first game without the Dynamic Duo, they have lost the last four.

Since Draisaitl was hurt during the second period of the Oilers’ 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks last Thursday (April 10), they have managed to score just three times in the last seven periods.

Not that this comes as any great revelation, but games like Monday show just how imperative Draisaitl and McDavid are to Edmonton’s success, and how much the Oilers struggle to produce without them. While they fired a ton of shots at Dostal, including 24 in the third period, only a small percentage of those were difficult saves for the Czech goalkeeper.

Power-Play Outage

Draisaitl and McDavid’s absence was most glaring during Edmonton’s power-play: the Oilers had six opportunities on Monday with the man-advantage, tied for their season-high, and failed to convert any of them.

Trailing 2-1, Edmonton started the third period with an extended power play, thanks to Anaheim’s Dylan Strome being assessed a double-minor for cross-checking Oilers blueliner Evan Bouchard late in the second period.

But the Oilers were unable to capitalize on that glorious chance to tie the game, and their power play ultimately came to an early end when Henrique took a roughing penalty at 2:09 of the third. Not long after, at 5:53, McTavish scored on a breakaway, putting the Oilers in a two-goal hole that they couldn’t dig out of.

So-So Showing for Rodrigue

Since Stuart Skinner suffered a concussion on March 26 during Edmonton’s loss to the Dallas Stars, veteran Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard had made five consecutive starts, going 3-2-0. On Monday, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch decided to give Pickard a break, opting to go with 24-year-old Rodrigue between the pipes.

Rodrigue was recalled after Skinner was hurt to serve as Pickard’s backup. Before Monday, his only NHL regular season action came on March 27, when he took over for Pickard in the third period of a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken and gave up one goal on seven shots.

So Monday marked Rodrigue’s first real chance to show his stuff, and while he didn’t get the win or register a great save percentage, he wasn’t terrible by any means. The Oilers could have used a big save by Rodrigue to take away one of Anaheim’s goals, but they also didn’t do their goaltender any favours by allowing McTavish to break in all alone for the winning goal.

Oilers Blow Great Opportunity

Monday’s loss particularly stings for Edmonton, because the Oilers missed an opportunity to gain two points on the Los Angeles Kings in the race for second place in the Pacific Division.

Los Angeles was upset 2-1 by the Seattle Kraken at Crypto.com Arena on Monday, in what was just the fifth regulation loss at home all season for the Kings. Edmonton remains four points back of the Kings, with just five games remaining for both teams.

Meanwhile, the Oilers are all but officially unable to catch the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights, who are nine points in front of them. They would need to go 5-0-0 and Vegas would need to go 0-5-0 to end the season for them to overtake the Golden Knights.

And to make matters worse, Edmonton still hasn’t locked up a playoff spot. The Calgary Flames beat San Jose 3-2 on Monday to pull within six points of the Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division. Any combination of four points gained by the Oilers and/or lost by the Flames will secure a postseason berth for Edmonton.

Edmonton’s next chance to clinch comes on Wednesday (April 9) when the Oilers host the St. Louis Blues and the Flames visit Anaheim. It remains to be seen whether any of the injured Oilers will be back in the lineup for Wednesday’s game at Rogers Place.