The Edmonton Oilers played their 14th game of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday night, falling 3-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights in a game they lost in the third period. These 14 games have been played in 29 games, in what has been a jam-packed start to their season.

By the time the Oilers played their 14th game in the 2023-24 season, they had already fired head coach Jay Woodcroft, replacing him with Kris Knoblauch, with that game being his first behind Edmonton’s bench as they beat the New York Islanders 4-1. That win boosted the Oilers points percentage to a still-measley .321, with a 4-9-1 record.

The 2024-25 season hasn’t started well for the Oilers. Based on vibes alone, it really feels like the team is in a similar spot they were last year. But are they? Let’s dig into the numbers of both seasons for the Oilers, and how they compare to the combined league averages at this time in each season.

Edmonton’s record in 2024-25 is improved from where they were last year, picking up two more wins, and four more points. The Oilers sit much closer to the league average rate this year than last, albeit still below the league average mark. They’ve managed to find a way to secure a couple more wins, likely thanks to improved five-on-five goaltending, but while the team is generating more shot attempts and scoring chances, there has been a dip in the quality of those chances.

Lots to unpack here in this one, so let’s start slow, working left to right, top to bottom, shall we?

First and foremost the Oilers are generating a slightly higher rate of shot attempts this season than they were through the early stretch of last season, but are also giving up more against than last year. What’s important, however, is they are still controlling the shot attempt share at one of the highest rates in the league, with their CF% being second in the entire NHL this season. That’s a good thing.

What isn’t good, however, is that they’ve scored an equal number of goals with 23. The reason the rate is .1 lower this season is due to the fact they are playing around two more minutes more per game at five-on-five. Edmonton’s done a great job allowing fewer goals against this season. They allowed 32 by this time last year, cutting that number by six to 26 this season. Once again, the five-on-five goaltending has been much better this season for the Oilers, and that’s a difference-maker. More on the goaltending later, though.

Edmonton’s quality of chances has slightly diminished this season, as represented by their expected goals per hour, and high -danger chances per hour rates dipping from last year. The Oilers are generating 1.6 fewer high-danger looks this year, and with all of Warren Foegele, Dylan Holloway and Evander Kane all off the roster, that’s a spot to point to. Through the first 14 games last year, they were third, fourth and fifth on the team in high-dangers chances per hour, even thought the team’s high-danger goals are equal, so you could consider it a wash. The Oilers are, however, generating more scoring chances for per hour in general, but they are dangerous ones.

On the other end of the rink, Edmonton continues to do a good job of limiting the opposition’s quality looks.

Lastly, they continue to be an unlucky team. Their shooting percentages in both years were well below average, with this year’s being even lower than last, being the third-worst mark in the league. Improved goaltending has been a help, but their overall luck number, PDO, still has room to get back to league average. Expect that to happen soon.

If you want to find the reason the Edmonton Oilers 2024-25 season isn’t going to plan so far, look no further than their penalty kill. Simply put, they have been historically bad, killing just 59.5 percent of the penalties they take.

According to the NHL’s statistics department, that 59.5 percent rate is the third-worst in league history through 14 games, since they started tracking in 1977-78, trailing the 2020-21 New Jersey Devils’ 59.1 percent, and the 1977-78 Minnesota North Stars’ 59 percent rate.

It’s almost hard to believe how bad it’s been, and there’s one glaring issue: the goaltending. Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have combined for a .694 save percentage when shorthanded. That isn’t a typo. Opponents on the power play have scored on 30.6 percent of their shots on goal. That’s ballooned the Oilers’ goals against per hour number to over double the league averages to start each of the last two years.

All this, mind you, as the Oilers have done a tremendous job in limiting the quality of looks opposing power plays are getting. Edmonton’s shot attempts against per hour, expected goals against per hour, scoring chances against per hour and high-danger scoring chances against per hour are all well below the average mark.

There’s no way that this sticks, and for as poor as their penalty kill is looking at the PK% and GA/60 numbers, there’s promise in some of the other areas.

A note about the personnel changes need to be made, too. Last year, Cody Ceci and Vincent Desharnais were big pieces of the penalty kill, as were Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele. It’s promising to see the suppression numbers strong despite the new faces coming in.

Here’s one we can keep simple: the power play sucks. It sucks so, so bad. It sucks so, so, so bad.

In every category, the Oilers power play is worse than it was to start the last year, dropping 12 percent overall, with all the key offensive metrics falling well below league-average marks. As much as the penalty kill has been an absolute dagger, Edmonton’s inability to score on the power play — something they’ve done so well for so long — has just… disappeared.

Much like with the penalty kill, these numbers aren’t going to last, and it’s a matter of time before they figure it out. If they want to do that, they need to start getting the puck on the net, and getting it into the high-danger areas of the ice. That’s a sport where the Oilers have been successful in the past, and for one reason or another, they’ve gotten away from it.

Technically speaking, yes. Their record is better, which is good, and their ability to choke out opposing offences has been a key in the early parts of this season. As much as we can talk about the limiting of opposing goals and the Oilers’ five-on-five save percentage improving, their power play has taken a significant step pack and not even Zach Hyman’s parents could pay their way to good goaltending on the penalty kill.

That’s a big reason why it may not feel like the Oilers are better. Edmonton’s special teams issues are a massive drain on the team, and in the 2023-24 season, we at least got to see the power play ripping at one of the best clips in the league.

Their issues are fixable. It’s not like the team who made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals just forgot how to do all the things that got them there. The power play will improve. The shooting percentages will increase. The goalies will make saves on the penalty kill.

Patience is a virtue at this time of year.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.