It was an ugly night on Wednesday (April 3) for the Edmonton Oilers at American Airlines Center, where they were crushed 5-0 by the host Dallas Stars.
The Stars blew open the game during the second period with four goals in a span of 5:48, turning a one-goal lead into a five-goal advantage. Forwards Jamie Benn, Radek Faksa, Wyatt Johnston, Tyler Seguin, and Sam Steel all scored on Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard, while Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger made 35 saves to record the shutout.
The result drops Edmonton’s record to 45-24-5 for a total of 95 points, and gives cause for some concern in Oil Country with just eight games remaining on the Oilers’ regular season schedule before the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
Oilers Continue to Struggle Against Top Teams
After Wednesday’s loss, Edmonton is now 1-5-1 combined against the three teams with the most points in the Western Conference (Dallas, the Colorado Avalanche, and Vancouver Canucks), and has been outscored 33-15 in those seven contests.
Granted, four of those games were in the first month of the season, when the Oilers were mired in a nightmarish slump. Edmonton lost three times to Vancouver (8-1 on Oct. 11, 4-3 on Oct. 14, and 6-2 on Nov. 6) and was beaten 4-3 by Dallas on Nov. 2.
Since turning their season around after making a head coaching change from Jay Woodcroft to Kris Knoblauch on Nov. 12, the Oilers have been much more competitive, going 1-1-1 against the conference’s top teams, including a 4-3 overtime victory over the Stars on Feb. 17 and a 3-2 overtime loss to Colorado on March 16.
But the fact remains that whether the games happened last fall, during the winter, or now in the spring, Edmonton hasn’t been able to defeat the teams it will most likely need to get past if they plan on going deep into the playoffs.
On top of that, the Oilers still play twice against Colorado, on Friday (April 5) and April 18, and once against Vancouver, on April 13. And those games have just taken on increased importance.
Oilers’ Division Hopes Take Huge Hit
When they arrived at the rink Wednesday, the Oilers were in control of their destiny to finish atop the Pacific Division standings. The scenario was quite simple: if Edmonton went 9-0 over its final nine games, including a regulation win against the Canucks on April 13, they would end up in first, regardless of Vancouver’s results in any of its other remaining games.
Related: Oilers Can Still Overtake Canucks For 1st in Pacific: Here’s How
But after Edmonton lost to the Stars and the Canucks scored with less than two minutes remaining to beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 on Wednesday, the Oilers are suddenly now seven points back of Vancouver with just two weeks left in the regular season.
While the Oilers have two games in hand on Vancouver, which plays just six more times before the schedule ends, they have minimal margin for error. Even if the Oilers go 6-2-0 over their final eight games, Vancouver would need only six more points to clinch first place in the division.
Furthermore, the Oilers still must concern themselves with objects in the rear-view mirror: they are just three points ahead of the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, who have seven games left to play, including a match-up with the Oilers at T-Mobile Arena on April 10.
If the Oilers are passed by Vegas, they’ll drop to third in the Pacific Division standings and lose home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. And having home ice is looking more and more crucial to the Oilers’ success.
Oilers Encounter Bumps on the Road
The Oilers don’t have a regulation win in their last five road games, going 1-3-1 with the lone win coming in overtime against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on March 26.
Over the last four weeks, the Oilers are 2-4-2 when not playing at Rogers Place. In those eight road games, they have lost after scoring first on three occasions, blown a multi-goal lead and lost twice, trailed by at least three goals three times, and fallen behind 5-0 twice. In short, they have either failed to maintain a strong start or been unable to dig themselves out of an early hole in its recent away games.
The good news for Edmonton is that five of its final eight regular season games will be played at home, including Friday’s tilt with the Avalanche.
Edmonton has lost just twice in regulation at Rogers Place since the week before Christmas, and went 8-0-1 at home in March, outscoring the opposition 43-17 over those nine games. The Oilers will need to continue that trend on Friday, not only to keep their first-place hopes alive, but prove they’re capable of outdueling a Stanley Cup contender.