The Edmonton Oilers lost no ground amongst their closest divisional rivals after a disappointing 4-0 shutout loss to the Florida Panthers — that’s the good news. Now, a stately storm led by Nikita Kucherov comes to town.

The lack of emotional engagement in the game left many fans feeling cold exiting Rogers Place, a championship rematch many hoped would be a marquee matchup. Then, coach Kris Knoblauch’s non-acknowledgement in the post-game presser left more frustration.

The game was winnable. But the Oilers couldn’t adapt against the Panthers’ forecheck.

“The guys worked really hard. The effort was there, but we couldn’t find a way to score a goal,” said Kris Knoblauch in his lead-off to the post-game scrum. “Maybe I’d criticize us for not shooting the puck enough. The effort was there, but we couldn’t find a goal.”

Saturday’s opponent in the Tampa Bay Lightning is in the mix for the one seed in the Eastern Conference, a group that did go to the Stanley Cup Final three consecutive times from 2020 to 2022, winning twice.

However, despite strong regular seasons, they haven’t won a playoff round since.

The NHL’s most productive point collector of the past three seasons, Nikita Kucherov, has been so hot that he’s just one behind the Oilers’ Connor McDavid. The league’s number one and two for the Art Ross Trophy cap off Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night.

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‘More simple to our game’

Blanked for the first time since Jan. 15, the Oilers spent Friday’s practice getting a lot of puck touches and practising the power play without Leon Draisaitl, according to Knoblauch.

Despite outchancing the Panthers in high danger looks, some of the best looks never got to Sergei Bobrovsky, a symptom of overpassing that tends to happen once the Oilers win a couple of games in a row.

The Oilers power play had two chances in the second period to claw back in the game.

“Without Leon, maybe we can get a bit more simple to our game. That’s not gonna happen overnight. Last night, maybe there was some opportunities to shoot pucks, but obviously that’s a one-off,” said Knoblauch.

That record of 1-9-2 after two-game win streaks is one thing. The fact the Oilers are losing a forward out of the lineup every other game is concerning.

Few details were provided on Friday, but Trent Frederic is expected to be out. Roby Järventie is likely to make his debut in the blue and orange. The former second-round pick has a career-high 17 goals and 36 points with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL in 52 games.

Having suffered two separate knee injuries in his young career, he said on Friday he’s happy to get the opportunity.

“There was definitely times I didn’t know if I was able to play hockey again. So I’m grateful for every day I’m able to do this,” said Järventie. “As the year has gone on, I kind of gotten my legs underneath me again, feel more confident skating, making plays and I think the confidence, the skating, kind of elevated my game.”

The Oilers reunited Zach Hyman on Connor McDavid’s wing and Matt Savoie, as the lines changed again after the Panthers game Thursday.

Bob Stauffer

@Bob_Stauffer

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The @EdmontonOilers practice: Savoie-McDavid-Hyman Podkolzin-RNH-Kapanen Jones-Dickinson-Roslovic Samanski-Henrique-Jarventie Lazar (LTIR) Ekholm-Bouchard Nurse-Murphy Walman-Stastney Emberson Ingram Jarry

6:02 PM · Mar 20, 2026

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Weather the storm

Out of the Olympic break, the Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t kept up their breakneck pace. How could they?

Jon Cooper’s squad went 19-1-1, and it’s fair to say their momentum stalled with a three week break, especially as several pieces participated in the Milan-Cortina Games.

This western road trip has seen them claw back from a 3-7 stretch out of the break, as the Lightning are coming off back-to-back 6-2 wins over Seattle and Vancouver.

Anthony Cirelli has rejoined Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov on the top line, and they’ve run roughshod over the opposition of late. The trio has 20 combined points in the past 120 minutes.

“It’s easy when you get to play with two guys in ‘Kuch’ and ‘Hages.’ They’re just two world-class players and make so many plays,” said Cirelli. “Just their work ethic of even just staying on the forecheck, coming up with pucks, so (I) just try and go to the net for them.”

Nikita Kucherov has been a points magnet, with 63 points in the 28 games this calendar year. His ferocious pace is providing a real push for his fourth Art Ross Trophy.

But overall, the team has been simplifying its approach, and it’s getting them wins. The Lightning are four points behind the Buffalo Sabres for first in the Atlantic Division, with two games in hand.

“Our team has played a bit more of a direct game,” said Cooper. “Every time we get in trouble, our game gets too cute.”

Goals, goals, goals

The season-long stats would suggest this would be a goal scoring tug-of-war, as the Lightning average 3.57 goals per game, and the Oilers average 3.47 per game.

Of course, that trend was bucked on Nov. 20, when it was largely 1-0 for the Oilers before Tampa found a way to tie and win in overtime 2-1.

The Oilers have been focused on “low-event” hockey of late, and surrendered just seven five-on-five high danger chances to Florida, fewer than the Sharks game on Tuesday. Matthew Tkachuk was quiet. Macklin Celebrini’s point streak was snapped.

Meanwhile, the Lightning allow 2.75 goals against per game, tied for the third-fewest in the NHL. Andrei Vasilevskiy is second in goals against average and fifth in save percentage.

Connor Ingram was in the starter’s net at practice, but no decision has been made yet. If Ingram goes, it’ll be his fifth consecutive start.

Notes:

Kucherov has 13 goals and 33 points in 19 games vs. the Edmonton Oilers.
He just produced his 124th three-point game, which is the fourth most among active players behind Sidney Crosby (189), McDavid (149) and Alex Ovechkin (141).
Jake Guentzel is the first Lightning player to score 30 goals in each of his first two seasons with the team, as well as 70 points. He’s second in team scoring.
Victor Hedman left the Canucks game with an illness, and is day-to-day. No word on his status for tonight, yet.
Darren Raddysh’s offensive explosion has been unexpected and electric. The pending free agent has 18 goals and 60 points, seventh amongst defencemen.
Raddysh is two goals from becoming the third undrafted defenceman over the past 30 years with 20 or more in a single season. The others are Mark Giordano (21 in 2015-16) and Dan Boyle (20 in 2006-07).
The five remaining Oilers games in the month of March are against teams currently in a playoff spot, or one point out.
The Oilers are 8-8-1 in 2026 at home.
Against the Eastern Conference this year at home, EDM is 5-8-2.
The Oilers are 2-0 after being shut out, winning by a combined score of 15-4.
Max Jones had eight hits against the Panthers in 11:24 of ice time.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is one point away from 800 in his NHL career.
Connor McDavid is also nearing 400 goals, 800 assists, and 1,200 points in his career.
The Oilers are winless, 0-9-2, when McDavid doesn’t register a point.
Oilers are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. TB, but 1-4 in their last five.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and has been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, he also collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.