4 Takeaways From Oilers’ 7-4 Loss to Capitals

The Oilers’ last chance came when Draisaitl tallied at 7:47 of the third period to make the score 5-4 in favour of Washington, but Wilson sealed the victory for the Capitals with a pair of empty net goals in the final moments.

On one hand, the Oilers deserve credit for picking themselves off the canvas time and again. Edmonton has already rallied to win after trailing by two goals on three occasions this season, including a league-leading two multi-goal third-period comeback victories. But the reason the Oilers have so many come-from-behind wins is because they trail so frequently.

Wednesday marked the ninth time in the Oilers’ last 18 games that they have fallen behind 2-0, and Edmonton has now allowed the first goal in 13 of its last 19 games. It’s utterly confounding that the Oilers continue to dig themselves holes with a slow start, and then come out the next game and do the exact same thing again.

Oilers Get Secondary Scoring

Secondary scoring has been a bit of an issue for the Oilers so far this season, but that wasn’t the case on Wednesday. Nurse and Tomasek had three goals between them, which is only one fewer than their combined total through Edmonton’s first 21 games of 2025-26.

Nurse scored at 7:05 and 12:17 of the opening period, becoming the first Oilers defenceman with two goals in the first period of a game since Corey Potter on April 26, 2013. Tomasek, who was a healthy scratch in six of Edmonton’s past nine games, potted his first goal since Oct. 23 when he put the puck past Thompson 2:41 into the third period.

Ultimately, the unlikely contributions from Nurse and Tomasek make Edmonton’s loss even more frustrating. The Oilers got the depth scoring they’ve been looking for on Wednesday, and couldn’t capitalize.

Skinner Can’t Make Key Saves

Granted, it doesn’t matter how much support scoring a team gets; if it gives up seven goals, victory likely isn’t in the cards.

Skinner was between the pipes for five of those seven goals, marking the fourth time in his last six starts that the 27-year-old netminder has been scored on at least four times.

In some of the previous games, Skinner couldn’t really be faulted. Edmonton’s defensive play this season has been poor, as the Oilers’ blueliners have consistently put their netminders in difficult situations.

Edmonton’s defence wasn’t exactly great on Wednesday, either, but Skinner bears the bulk of responsibility for all the rubber that ended up in his net. This was arguably Skinner’s worst performance of 2025-26, particularly because he couldn’t make timely stops: Skinner allowed Washington’s third goal just 3:29 after Nurse had scored to make it 2-1 in the first period, and he conceded the Capitals’ fifth goal only 2:56 after Tomasek tallied to make the score 4-3.

Hyman Has Little Impact

Wednesday was Zach Hyman’s third game back in the Oilers lineup after being sidelined since May with a wrist injury, and it was his least impactful performance since returning to action.

The veteran forward managed only one shot on goal, three hits, and finished the game with a plus/minus rating of minus-3, all season lows. He was also held pointless for a second consecutive contest.

Hopes were high in Oil Country that the return of the former 54-goal scorer would spark a turnaround for the middling Oilers, but Hyman has yet to find the back of the net and has just one assist through three games. While he’s certainly not lacking for effort, Hyman is likely still getting up to speed after missing all of training camp and preseason, let alone Edmonton’s first 19 games of 2025-26.

The Oilers could certainly use a signature scoring outburst from Hyman, as they go from the frying pan right into the fire, with a game Thursday (Nov. 20) at Benchmark International Arena against the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning.