The Edmonton Oilers have now dropped three straight games, most recently falling 2–1 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. With a 9-9-5 record, they sit third from the bottom in the Pacific Division.
After making it to the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years, only to fall to the Florida Panthers both times, the Oilers entered this season expecting another deep playoff push. Instead, they’ve struggled to find their footing and currently sit near the bottom of the league in a major statistical category.
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Thursday’s loss dropped their even-strength goal differential at 5-on-5 to -18, the worst in the NHL this season. The number, which reflects the difference between goals scored and goals allowed, underscores their biggest problem: they’ve managed only 40 goals at evens while surrendering 58.
The Oilers own the NHL’s worst goal differential at 5-on-5 pic.twitter.com/BGEoHW4L8W
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 21, 2025
And the problems don’t end there.
Edmonton has surrendered 82 total goals, ranking 32nd in the NHL. Its team save percentage sits at .862, also dead last.
Despite the ugly numbers, the performance against Tampa felt different from the more lopsided losses earlier in the week, such as the 7–4 defeat to Washington and the 5–1 setback against Buffalo.
Edmonton actually defended well, opened the scoring early through Trent Frederic, and limited Tampa’s chances for much of the night. But Nick Paul tied the game late in the third, and Jake Guentzel sealed the win for the Lightning in overtime.
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Head coach Kris Knoblauch said there were plenty of positives to take away from the game. He pointed out that the team showed real improvement defensively and highlighted Calvin Pickard’s strong outing in the third period.
However, he also acknowledged, “But you can see a fragile group in the third period. We’re just a shell of ourselves, not wanting to make a mistake and holding on, and when you hold on, you just have to defend over and over again. Unfortunately, they score that tying goal and it was too bad because it was a good effort for a lot of guys.”
Knoblauch said strong defensive play will naturally lead to offensive chances, and if the Oilers can keep the puck out of their net, they’ll win far more often.
