There’s always a fun energy in the building when the Edmonton Oilers face the Detroit Red Wings, and that was certainly the case on Thursday night at Rogers Place. What started looking like a runaway night for the Oilers turned into a nail-biter after two quick goals from Detroit tied the game and set the table for an OT finish. When the overtime period solved nothing, it was off to the shootout, where the Oilers essentially punted their first attempt of the season, falling to the Red Wings by a 3-2 final score.

We were getting too happy and comfortable around here, I think. It had been a while since the Oilers dropped a turd in the punch bowl and lost a game that looked to be a sure win. The boys were buzzin’ in the first period, and if I’m truly being a homer here, they were unlucky to only be up by two. It looked like it would be the start of a fun night at the ol’ barn. That was, of course, until some sloppy puck management by the Oilers was the ladder Detroit needed to climb out of their two-goal hole.

The good vibes vanished midway through the second period when the Red Wings scored two goals in under two minutes, going from being on the mat to back in the fight and swinging for the win. You could almost see the fun get sucked out of Rogers Place like a vacuum. And even though the Oilers ended up cranking their compete back up again, they couldn’t get anything else past Lyon with any of their 19 shots in the third period and overtime. I don’t want to say they got goalied — they didn’t — but this was a hard lesson in what happens when you take your foot off the gas for even a minute in this league.

That may work against the Sabres and Krakens of the league, but not against teams on a heater like the Red Wings are right now. Lesson learned or recurring problem that needs to be solved?

Is everyone else having as much fun as I am watching Leon Draisaitl put up his best season as an Oiler only a few short months after signing that monster eight-year extension? The guy is playing out of his mind right now, and I’m running out of news ways to describe how awesome it is to watch him play at such a high level. The guy has always been dangerous whether he’s passing or shooting, but he’s raised the level on both of those aspects and I can’t help but think the noise around his Hart Trophy bid is only going to get louder.

As much as that loss was annoying, I want to talk about fun things and the most fun thing I can think about is Leon Draisaitl increasing his lead in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy. Not only do I think he’s got a real chance at bringing home his second MVP title, but I also love his chances at bringing home the award as the league’s best goal scorer. And frankly, I think the Hockey Gords are helping to make it happen with friendly bounces like the one he got on the power play goal for his 36th goal of the season. Yeah, losing to the Red Wings sure did suck, but I’ll never get tired of watching Leon Draisaitl score goals.

Edmonton has had a lot of interesting names over the years, but I’m not sure I would have ever had John Klingberg‘s name on my bingo card. I remember Klingberg most from his time in Dallas, and he was incredibly annoying to play against in his prime because of his ability to score points and move the puck up the ice. Even as he went into free agency a few years back, he was never a player that I thought would wind up here. But that’s what happened after a long and winding road of hip surgeries and recovery, and there he was in an Oilers jersey when I turned on my TV Thursday night.

I know we’re not talking about the same Klingberg who put up 67 points in 2018, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t fascinated about how he’ll fit in here. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have much in the way of expectations for his first game back since November 11th of 2023. If those fresh hips don’t fail him, and it doesn’t take a lunar cycle to get back up to game shape, this could be a free upgrade to the back end that comes at a reasonable rate. Of course, this experiment could always blow up in our face, but the good news is that they’ve got a month to test drive the situation before the trade deadline rolls around.

In 16:39 of TOI, Klingberg registered one shot on goal, one giveaway, and a -1 rating in the 20 shifts he took. All-in-all, not bad for a first game in 14 months. I think we saw some rust, but we also saw a player with a clear skill at moving the puck. Onto the next one.

1. It’s kinda wild that the Oilers and Red Wings was game 51 of the season and it was the first time Edmonton had been to a shootout. And after seeing how poorly they navigated their first attempt, I won’t be sad if I don’t see another shootout for the rest of the season.

2. Jeff Skinner picked up his second goal in as many games midway through the first period after finding a loose puck laying in the crease and beating his check to knock it home. What’s wild about Skinner being in and out of the lineup is that last night’s goal was his ninth of the season, and even though he’s not playing as much as any of us thought he would, he’s still finding ways to being productive when opportunities present themselves.

3. I saw some people on social media taking shots at Stuart Skinner for the loss, but I don’t really see how that’s possible when he finished with 32 saves and a .941 save percentage. At some point, you need the team in front of him to score more than two goals. Not to mention, I don’t really know how you hang either of Detroit’s two on him anyway. End rant.

4. On the bright side, you can make it 15 straight kills for the Oilers’ PK squad. Those boys got the job done three times at key moments in the game, and you have to love the way Edmonton has really started to dial it in when down a man.

5. I guess Todd McLellan always has been a trap coach, huh? I was getting flashbacks to playing against the Kings with the way the Red Wings were stacking defenders up on the blue line in the third period, and while I know it’s an effect way of locking things down, it’s also incredibly boring to watch.

6. May I offer you some fresh faceoff stats to start your day? The Oilers won 45.2% of the draws against Detroit, and it’s yet another thing to be upset about when we reflect on the loss.

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