The Edmonton Oilers didn’t have anything close to their best when they fell to the Bruins on Thursday night, which made Saturday’s matinee against the Philadelphia Flyers all the more important. Put another way, the Oilers haven’t played their best since coming back from the Christmas break, and it was going to take a lot more than a passive effort if they were going to wrestle two points away from Philly. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Instead, the Oilers gave up all the offence the Flyers would need before the game was even 20 minutes old. Good times. Final score: 5-2 Flyers.

As the Oilers were giving up their third goal against in the first 14:38 of the hockey game, I couldn’t help but wonder what else I could have been doing with my time. The mistakes were annoying, the legs weren’t moving, and I think as many shots ended up in the net as were stopped. Watching the game from your couch gives you a certain autonomy over your time that you don’t have when you buy tickets, and it’s tough to be excited about spending two hours watching a game that felt over before it began. And when you mix in the detail that we were already worried about how they’d do in the matinee, and you’ve got the makings of an easy change-the-channel moment for a lot of people.

The good news was that Connor McDavid’s breakaway goal at 16:08 of the first gave the boys some life. Whether it was the Darnell Nurse fight or the captain’s goal, the bench desperately needed a spark and they finally got one. The problem, of course, is that winning in the NHL is hard enough at the best of times without spotting your opponent a field goal to kick off the game. Sure, the comeback to make it a one-goal game was fun and made it cool enough that I didn’t flip over to Stranger Things, but it would have been way cooler had they not been in that spot in the first place. The Flyers are too good to be given the chance to start on second base.

When the Oilers were running through teams before the Christmas break, I wrote about being worried that those days off would ruin the team’s mojo, and that fear has come to fruition in the four games since. Outside of some flashes of brilliance or even outright dominance, Edmonton has been outplayed every time. Even in the 3-1 win over Winnipeg, it wasn’t like the Oilers were the better team. Had it not been for Calvin Pickard’s brilliance, the boys would have lost that one too. It goes without saying that the Oilers aren’t playing anywhere near the standard they set for themselves two weeks ago, and Saturday’s loss was another example.

We can blame matinees, the goaltending, giveaways, missed calls, voodoo curses, or whatever excuse comes to mind, but it’s incredibly frustrating that the Oilers have an opportunity to put the Pacific Division behind them and they’re blowing it. Despite the terrible start to the season and mediocre run over the last four games, the Oilers are still in first place even though they’ve done nothing to keep that spot. I mean, Edmonton was down by two goals, and it still took 13 minutes in the third period for them to register a shot on goal. That’s nowhere near good enough, and light years away from being acceptable. We all know the Oilers still haven’t earned a three-game win streak yet this season, but they sure are doing everything they can to land in one going the other way.

I was excited when I saw that Kris Knoblauch put Matt Savoie, Quinn Hutson, and Isaac Howard together against the Flyers, but I was always curious about how much the line would actually see the ice. The Oilers haven’t exactly been generous with doling out minutes to rookies, and having three on the same line was either going to work out great or get taken out of the rotation almost immediately. And since a rookie line is bound to make mistakes at some point, my gut was telling me that minutes wouldn’t come easily for them, which was precisely how the afternoon played out. There were moments of promise, but probably not enough opportunity to build any momentum.

Isaac Howard, Matt Savoie, and Quinn Hutson got 11:52, 10:16, and 9:17 in TOI respectively, and it can be tough to get yourself going in games when you’re playing one of every five or six shifts. And with none of these three getting much time on either special teams unit, you wonder how effective they can truly be without a defined role to lock into. I mean, they’re not getting offensive zone faceoffs because McDavid or Draisaitl would get those, and they’re probably not trusted enough to start in their own end either. When all that’s left is changing on the fly, I’m concerned that our three youngsters will struggle when their opportunities for impactful minutes are so limited. Maybe I’m just overthinking this, but my first thought after Saturday’s game was that I wish I had seen these three more, but I don’t think Kris Knoblauch would agree with that.

We’re heading back to Las Vegas for the next Nation Vacation, March 24–27, and you’re invited to join the ultimate hockey fan getaway. Trip packages start at $2,400, with the option to secure your spot for just 20% down. Enjoy roundtrip flights, a premium three-night stay at Circa Resort & Casino, access to Stadium Swim, exclusive watch parties, a Nation Citizens pool party, a party bus to T-Mobile Arena, and food and drinks included at the Edmonton vs. Vegas game. Multiple travel options mean you can book the trip your way—so lock in your spot now at nationgear.ca and come be part of the chaos in Vegas!