At the 13-game mark of the 2023-24 NHL regular season, something is rotten in the self-proclaimed “City of Champions.”
The Edmonton Oilers dropped to 2-8-1 after Monday night's 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Despite outplaying the Canucks to start the game, Vancouver scored three times in a 3:22 span in the first period and never looked back.
“For whatever reason, they’re going in,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said about the goals his team is giving up. “They’re going in off us, they’re going in every which way. Yeah, don’t have many answers on that one.”
The Oilers have now lost seven of their last eight games, the lone win coming against their provincial rival, the Calgary Flames, in the Heritage Classic on Oct. 29. That’s one win since Oct. 19.
“You can’t script perfect hockey games,” Woodcroft said after Monday’s loss, a game which he was thrown out from in the third period for arguing with officials. “Sometimes another team’s goaltender stands on their head and you give up a few mistakes and it ends up in the back of the net, whether that’s a goaltender or a player. We can collectively be better.”
On Tuesday’s episode of "Daily Faceoff LIVE," Frank Seravalli and former NHL defenseman Colby Cohen discussed the Oilers’ loss to the Canucks and breakdown what’s wrong with the team many people picked as their preseason Stanley Cup prediction.
Frank Seravalli: The Edmonton Oilers absolutely self-destructed against the Vancouver Canucks. They had about as perfect a start as you could possibly imagine, outshooting the Canucks 19-2…then Vancouver scores the first goal, and the wheels fall off. What happened?
Colby Cohen: I stayed up for this one, Frank, and I got to tell you: I’m disappointed to see this effort and to see the Oilers become so unraveled so easily, they are so fragile right now. That tells me that all this negativity is getting to the dressing room. Their habits are really bad on the ice right now.
You can listen to the rest of the segment and the full episode here…
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