Consistency has not been the Oilers’ modus operandi this year. After a long, grueling season saw them fall flat at the final hurdle in the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers have made a bumpy start to the 2025/26 NHL season.
Blame has been pinned on a number of Oilers stars, including (but not limited to) Evan Bouchard. The $42 million defenseman has epitomized several of the Oilers’ problems, but stood tall as Edmonton snatched an overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place.
Connor McDavid had more than a few things to say about the rampant criticism directed at Bouchard in light of his game-winning performance on Saturday night.
Connor McDavid Makes Feelings Clear on Evan Bouchard Criticism
Bouchard’s decision-making has come under fire of late, with Edmonton struggling to stitch together a consistent run. Most recently, Bouchard was blamed for the loss to the New York Rangers after a pair of turnovers directly led to goals for the opposition.
Following the OT win over Chicago, McDavid drew a line in the sand over the criticism aimed at his teammate.
“You guys can say what you want about him. We love him in there. We know his best is among the very, very, very best. We got his back no matter what’s going on,” McDavid said.
“His play can be better. Everyone’s play can be better. But really happy for him to get that big goal and quiet some people a little bit.”
“Still some things to clean up.”
Connor McDavid shares his thoughts on the 3-2 OT victory over Chicago. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/rnfDVfgIpw
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 2, 2025
Bouchard also had a few things to say about the Oilers and their Jekyll-and-Hyde performances. “Far from a perfect game. We definitely need to clean some things up, but I’m glad I got one to contribute offensively,” Bouchard said.
The Oilers D-man also stressed that the team now needs to put consistency above everything else.
“When we play the way we wanna play, you see how dominant we are. Putting it all together for 60 minutes or more, and just keep going with that.”
Bouchard got the game-winning goal this time around, but McDavid was also in the thick of things, racking up three assists to bring his early-season tally to 14 assists. The goal tally (3) is a bit of a concern, but you can never count out an icon who might just be the most talented skater the NHL has ever seen.
With the win over the Blackhawks, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has now inched closer to a milestone. He now has 100 career wins, tying Bruce Boudreau and Andrew Brunette for the 8th-fewest games to 100 wins behind the bench (164).
The Oilers now have a tricky pair of games to keep an eye on as they look to build momentum. They will face the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars in quick succession in what will be a real test of whether they’ve actually turned things around early this season.