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Oilers miss details against Devils in 2-1 loss: Recap, Reaction and Highlights
Edmonton Oilers Tristan Jarry New Jersey Devils
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jan 21, 2026, 01:11 ESTUpdated: Jan 21, 2026, 01:14 EST
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Once again, the Edmonton Oilers have failed to win three consecutive games.
On Tuesday evening, the Oilers dropped a 2-1 decision to the New Jersey Devils after sleepwalking through the first two periods. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one.
For the first 25 minutes of the game, the Oilers and Devils played low-event hockey. Five minutes into the second period, the Devils opened the scoring as a pass from the boards found Arseny Gritsyuk wide open in the slot. Tristan Jarry got a piece of it, but it squeaked through him for the 1-0 Devils’ lead.
Seven minutes into the second, the Oilers tied the game. Off a faceoff, Isaac Howard was able to get the puck back to Jake Walman at the point. His shot deflected off Matthew Savoie and past Jake Allen to tie the game up at one.
And then, the lead was gone 30 seconds later. Darnell Nurse had a horrendous change, allowing the Devils to break into the Oilers zone on an odd-man rush of sorts. A pass over to the weak-side gave Cody Glass all the time in the world to one-time it past Jarry.

Takeaways…

After two low-event periods, the Oilers realized they were down a goal and put heavy pressure on the Devils. The game was extremely entertaining down the stretch, but the Oilers couldn’t pull out the game-tying goal. With the Devils on the second game of a back-to-back, the Oilers should’ve played like this all game.
A big reason for the win was because of Jake Allen’s third period. There’s something about Allen against the Oilers, as he has now won his last five games against the Albertan team, where has a .945 save percentage. He made numerous big saves when called upon in the third.
That doesn’t mean Tristan Jarry was bad. The Oilers had a power play shortly after the Devils made it 2-1, and on the power play, he made a massive stop on a breakaway. In the third period, the faced a few high-danger scoring opportunities. Jarry had a sub .900 save percentage, but he was decent.
As you know, the Oilers are down to 11 forwards on their roster, meaning they went 11/7 for this game. Well, Vasily Podkolzin answered a hit on Connor McDavid and fought late in the first period. Thanks to an instigator penalty, Podkolzin received 17 penalty minutes. Realistically, this was a horrendous penalty to give as both players accepted the fight. It also dropped the Oilers down to 10 forwards for those 17 minutes.
Because of dressing 11 forwards and Podkolzin being in the locker room for as long as he was, the Oilers’ lines were a mess. The only two lines that got more than seven minutes were the Isaac Howard/Jack Roslovic/Matt Savoie line, and the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins/Connor McDavid/Zach Hyman line.
Savoie and Howard both picked up a point in this game, as Howard had a secondary assist and Savoie picked up his first goal in 16 games. In their last three games, both rookies have two points, as they each had an assist on Saturday.
This game was another failed attempt at stringing three wins together, so the Oilers will be back to the drawing board. The drawing board is running out of room, as this is the ninth time they’ve had a “win streak” end at two games. You can say it’s two steps forward, one step back.
Former Oiler Connor Brown made his return to Edmonton in this game and picked up an assist. Well, Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak return to Edmonton for the first time since the trade, as the Penguins roll into town. That game is at 7:00 PM MT on Thursday.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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