4 Takeaways From Oilers’ 6-5 Loss to Ducks

Going back to their schedule before the three-week pause for the Winter Games, the Oilers have now lost four consecutive games. Through 59 games, Edmonton has a record of 28-23-8 for 64 points.

Oilers Blow Multiple Multi-Goal Leads

Edmonton held leads of 2-0, 4-2, and 5-4 on Wednesday, and blew all of them. Anaheim didn’t take its first lead until just 74 seconds remained, when Gauthier scored on Ingram to make the score 6-5 in favour of the home team. The Oilers, on the other hand, led for nearly 30 minutes of the game, and somehow didn’t even get a point to show for it.

The regulation loss is particularly galling, considering the Oilers not only got an uncharacteristically quick start (Roslovic scored the opening goal just 13 seconds into the first period), but also took a multi-goal advantage into the third period, after Hyman and Bouchard scored goals just 35 seconds apart late in the middle frame to put Edmonton in front 4-2. This was the first time in 26 games this season that the Oilers held a lead through 40 minutes and didn’t at least go to overtime.

Coffey Back on the Bench

Wednesday marked the first Oilers game this season with Paul Coffey on their bench. He returned to Edmonton’s coaching staff on Feb. 18, during the Olympic break.

The Hall-of-Fame blueliner previously served as an assistant coach, specializing in the defensive corps, with the Oilers during their runs to the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025. From when he first joined the staff, on Nov. 13, 2023, through the end of the 2024-25 regular season, the Oilers allowed just 2.78 goals per game, the fifth fewest in the NHL over that span.

Following last postseason, Coffey exited the coaching staff and had been serving as special advisor to ownership and hockey operations. His return to an assistant coaching role is hoped to shore up defensive play on a team that has now surrendered the fifth most goals (197) in the NHL this season. If Wednesday is any indication, however, this isn’t an overnight fix.

Defensive Issues Persist for Oilers

After giving up six goals to the Ducks, Edmonton has now allowed 40 goals over its last eight games, which is tied for the most goals the Oilers have allowed over an eight-game span since 1995.

The Oilers were an absolute dumpster fire defensively in the third period, when they gave up four goals to watch a 4-2 lead evaporate into a 6-5 loss. Darnell Nurse, who finished the game with a plus/minus rating of minus-3 and Jake Walman (minus-2) were especially guilty. On Sennecke’s goal, which tied the game at five only 46 seconds after Savoie had scored to restore the lead for Edmonton, Nurse allowed the Anaheim forward to carry the puck in and then essentially moved aside, allowing a clear shot on goal.

Knoblauch Has Blunt Assessment of Jarry

Jarry was far from blameless in Wednesday’s loss, however: the veteran netminder should have stopped at least two of the five goals he allowed. He’s now 2-4-0 with a goals-against average of 4.89 and save percentage of .831 over his last seven appearances.

It’s rare that a goalie will get pulled in the middle of the third period, but that’s exactly what happened after Sennecke scored with just over 13 minutes remaining in regulation. Having seen enough, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch sent Ingram in to replace Jarry.

“Obviously, I wasn’t happy with the goaltending,” Knoblauch said while speaking to media following the loss. “The goals that we gave up, especially in the third period, I didn’t like those. Definitely, there was other mistakes there, but part of it is you need better goaltending and tonight wasn’t one of (Jarry’s) best games.”

It’s a good bet that Ingram starts for the Oilers on Thursday (Feb. 26), when they visit the Los Angeles Kings for a massively important game at Crypto.com Arena. Edmonton currently occupies third place in the Pacific Division, while Los Angeles is the first team on the outside of the wild card playoff race. The Oilers are four points ahead of the Kings (who have 60 points from a record of 23-20-14), but Los Angeles has two games in hand.