Oilers ready to put meaningless exhibition games behind them

With a 3-2 overtime loss in Vancouver on Friday night, the Oilers have finished their pre-season schedule.

Edmonton went 4-2-2 over eight exhibition games, with losses coming in their last two on the road against the Kraken and Canucks.

A group similar to the one we’ll see on opening night next Wednesday took the ice in Vancouver and put forward an inconsistent effort. The Canucks opened the scoring in the first, Kasperi Kapanen and Leon Draisaitl put Edmonton ahead in the second, and then Vancouver tied the game in the third before winning in overtime.

At this stage, the wins and losses really don’t matter. What’s important is that the Oilers got through these eight meaningless games unscathed without any players going down with major injuries.

When the Flames come to town next week for an actual regular-season game that’s being tracked for the record books, we should hopefully see a more complete performance from the home team. The Oilers came out slowly against the Canucks, found their legs in the second, and then played sloppily in the third and in overtime. The defending before Conor Garland’s winning goal looked like something out of a practice scrimmage.

Again, no reasonable person is criticizing a Stanley Cup contender for treating a pre-season game like a pre-season game, but there’s more urgency than usual this year for the Oilers to be ready from the jump. A slow start coupled with a captain set to hit free agency would make for a darker and colder Edmonton winter than usual.

What they said

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch on how the team played in their final exhibition game…

“I think in the first period, we were a little sleepy and didn’t execute very well. Maybe later in the period, I thought we started playing better. Second period, I thought it was our best period. In the third period, it was back to being sloppy and giving up the puck too much, especially in the offensive zone just inside the blueline. We really fed their transition, and then we have to defend. Fortunately for us, [Calvin Pickard] had an outstanding third period, making some really nice saves on the penalty kill and five-on-five to allow it to go into extra time.”

“When things go so well in the second period that you get away from simplifying things and making the extra pass or the extra move, then you end up turning the puck over and you’re in trouble. It’s the last exhibition, so fortunately, we can get to the regular season and the intensity should ramp up.”

Edmonton forward David Tomášek on finishing his first pre-season with the Oilers…

“I’m looking forward to it. It was obviously a long pre-season, but I’m happy I got those games. I needed that, and I thought today was another decent performance. I’m trying to get better each game and just improve and get used to everything, but you need games to improve and I’ll just keep on working. I think everyone’s excited about Wednesday.”

Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko on how the Canucks feel going into the season…

“You can tell guys are on the same page. And that’s a credit to our staff, credit to the guys that have been putting in a lot of  work. The continuity of the team out there seems really strong.

“Obviously, a good team over there [in Edmonton], a couple of good players. I thought we played with confidence. We played our game. We didn’t kind of sit around and wait to see what they were going to do, so it’s really encouraging.”

Up next

With the pre-season schedule wrapped up, the Oilers will announce their season-opening roster in the coming days before hosting the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, October 8, to begin the 2025-26 campaign. Edmonton will also host the Canucks on Saturday, October 11.