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Oilers Thoughts: Losing streak snapped, Bouchard’s best game, Nurse struggling, Savoie snakebit
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Photo credit: © Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
Michael Menzies
Oct 22, 2025, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 22, 2025, 10:08 EDT
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Not every win will you hang in the Louvre – but the Louvre isn’t so safe these days. Neither did the Oilers have to play jewel thief in the nation’s capital. They collected the OT victory 3-2 and thankfully finished this five-game road trip. 
Overall, it was a so-so, alright performance by the Oilers. But on a three game skid, and a particular body language dread looming over them, style points weren’t their concern. 
Connor McDavid finally lit the lamp. Isaac Howard took advantage of a very brief opportunity with Draisaitl and McDavid to bury his first career goal. Old man Adam Henrique has his silver stick in the mail. The return of Jake Walman featured an age-honoured tradition some teammates of his could pick up on: blasting the puck as hard as possible toward the goal. 
It worked. The Oilers win. It’s two points – a survive and advance type of win for Edmonton, who weren’t particularly inspiring 5-on-5 offensively, but also didn’t get too disheveled after surrendering a two-goal lead in the third period in mere moments. 
The Senators played fine, electing on their shorthanded overtime chance to overpass the puck, as well. Also, what the hell was Thomas Chabot thinking on that ridiculous overtime turnover? It led directly to the faceoff and the Oilers’ game-winning goal. They’re probably thinking a similar thing to Edmonton: let’s get a point and build from there. 
The game lacked jam. In fact, the whole road trip was a low-event collection of games. 
Keep the suitcase at hand, though. After hosting the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, it’s back-to-back on the west coast in Seattle and Vancouver on Saturday and Sunday. 

Individuals

  • Evan Bouchard played his best game of the young season. First of all, he avoided the big mistake. Secondly, his breakout passes were pinpoint, he moved pucks extremely well, and came close to finding the back of the net. He was on the ice for six High Danger Chances For to just one High Danger Chances Against at 5-on-5. Great numbers. You can’t discount how a new contract plays with a player’s psyche. We know the flaws of this player, the lapses, the lackadaisical turnovers, etc. When he’s on, he’s one of the best defencemen breaking out the puck in the world. The points will come.
  • Darnell Nurse, on the other hand? Extremely concerning. His Corsi For Percentage (average is typically between 45-55%) is at 40.18 this season. Nurse leads all Oilers skaters in time-on-ice 5-on-5, but not much is going right with him on the ice. His two penalties on Tuesday didn’t help. The criticism is deserved. 
  • I’m waiting for an insider report from David Pagnotta — who is getting more screentime than Pedro Pascal these days — that Matt Savoie suffered an anaconda bite two weeks ago. The youngster is getting chances, two beauties in the second period, but he somehow couldn’t bury. But a clean faceoff win in overtime is a sweet assist. He has an expected goals right now of 3. It’s gonna happen if he continues to play like this. However, his lines are struggling a bit on the defensive side of the puck. 
  • The less we say about Stuart Skinner, the better. If we aren’t talking about him, it’s a good sign. One hundred wins in his career. I hope it’s a harbinger of consistent things to come, but I won’t hold my breath. 
  • It would’ve been a nice chance to find out if Isaac Howard had a hot hand. Instead, he had just seven shifts after his goal and finished with the lowest TOI on the Oilers with 10:42. 

The big boys

Overall, the Oilers lack a certain jump through seven games. A word I’ll use here is whelming. So it goes with the October Oilers. I still think they are turning over far too many pucks and nullifying potential chances before they can even begin. 
McDavid looked livelier. Draisaitl seems lethargic, with many of his passes being picked off. I’d be more confident with the start if the ice time were more evenly distributed, but it hasn’t. McDavid is hovering over 23 minutes a night, and Draisaitl is right there with him. 
Kapanen being out for a while will grant more opportunity for other wingers. That probably means everyone except a young gun will get a chance with McDavid and Draisaitl. 
While they stopped the bleeding with a victory, Edmonton will have to reset on the fly. Eight games over 13 nights await them beginning Thursday, which is the next time they’ll have consecutive days without a game. 

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