After a wild schedule of road games and cross-country flights, the Edmonton Oilers kicked off their six-game home stand against Alex Ovechkin and the red-hot Washington Capitals. And while the Oilers certainly played well enough to win, they couldn’t get more than two goals past Logan Thompson, who did everything he possibly could to steal two points. The Oilers may have doubled the Capitals’ shot total, but the Corskis don’t always translate to goals on the board, and that was certainly the case on Tuesday at Rogers Place. Final score: 3-2 Capitals.

I try to be as level-headed as possible when talking about Stuart Skinner because I think the noise around him can be ridiculous sometimes, but last night was not Stu’s night. In a game when Logan Thompson puts up a .938 save percentage and stops 30 of 32 shots, we need better goaltending than three goals allowed on only 14 shots. No matter how you slice it, Stuart Skinner wasn’t good enough for Edmonton on Tuesday, and that’s frustrating, given how well he’s played over the last six weeks. On a night when we just needed him to be okay, we didn’t get Stu’s best or even close to it.

Even though I would passionately argue that not all three goals were his fault — the first goal was a 2-on-1 off a turnover, and the second was the result of a screen in the crease — that doesn’t mean that he didn’t need to be better. We needed saves at key moments, but we just didn’t get them. How else would you describe a night when he finished with 11 saves and a .786 save percentage? The boys in front of him did their job by holding Washington to only 14 shots, but to give up three goals in the process? That just can’t happen, making the sting of this loss all the more frustrating.

We’re at a point with this Oilers team where it feels weird to criticize the power play. Edmonton’s top unit has been one of the best power plays the NHL has ever seen, so pointing out holes in their game plan seems foolish when you think about it. That said, the boys stunk last night, and it was painful to watch. I know the Oilers’ power play looks a hell of a lot different with Connor McDavid out of the lineup, but this was something else. The three attempts Edmonton got with the man advantage on Tuesday looked like they had never done it before, and if it wasn’t so frustrating to watch the perimeter passes melt time off the clock, it might have almost been funny.

But on a night when the Oilers desperately needed a goal, the power play flopped in spectacular fashion and didn’t look anything like the squad that was a coin flip with the man advantage. Instead of moving the puck around the zone with purpose and hammering pucks on the net when lanes opened up, Edmonton seemed content to rip passes around the boards and only take shots when there were shinpads in the way. As much as I know the boys will bounce back from such a poor showing, that doesn’t make the results from the game against Washington any less painful. The Oilers had three opportunities on the PP to make a difference in the outcome, but instead, we were lucky to even get a shot on goal. Not ideal.

Am I the only Oilers fan who thinks it’s pretty cool that Alex Ovechkin is chasing down Wayne Gretzky’s goal record? I know Gretz was an Oiler, and we always want to keep his records intact, but I also think it’s fantastic for the league if one of those godly records gets broken in the time of social media. Having Alex Ovechkin and track Gretzky down as the league’s greatest goal scorer will create so much buzz around the NHL when/if it happens that I’m having a hard time finding the negatives about it.

I’ve been called a Bad Oilers Fan a few times for this take on social media, but I legitimately stand by being excited to watch this happen. Maybe it’s just because I wasn’t old enough to truly appreciate Gretzky’s greatness or witness the brilliance he offered on a nightly basis, but I’m choosing to look at this as a moment that will put a spotlight on the NHL. Besides, Gretzky will still hold 60 records on his resume, so I think we’ll be alright if this one gets pinched from the list. And besides, he didn’t score on Tuesday, which means the Oilers didn’t help him get there. Great success.

1. At least Leon Draisaitl scored his 34th goal of the season. If I can’t celebrate a win then at least I can enjoy our handsome hero pulling even further away in the NHL goal race.

2. Who is the person who threw their $20 nachos on the ice in the moments leading up to Corey Perry’s goal? I know the Oilers were down by two goals at that point, but what was it about that moment in time that forced this person to yeet an overpriced meal onto the ice? Amazingly, the nachos stayed intact until Perry scored on a clapper from the left circle, but I was still confused who balls so hard here in the year 2025 that they just chuck full snacks away like this. If nothing else, give me the nachos so that I can eat them or at least give me the $20 so that I can spend the money on something better.

3. I was interested to see how Jeff Skinner would handle the bump up to the top-six with McDavid in the press box, and I was looking for him to seize the moment a little bit, knowing that he’d likely get more minutes over these next three games than he has in a while. Instead, Skinner ended up playing 12:04 and was mostly unnoticeable. Outside of a couple of flashes and the two shots on goal, Skinner didn’t force his way into more minutes, and that frustrates me given the opportunity that was presented to him. With McDavid out of the lineup, Edmonton needed guys to come up with big goals and that was a time when I was hoping that Jeff Skinner could do the thing that got him to 1000+ games in this league, but we just didn’t quite get there.

4. What was that roughing/pulling the helmet penalty that got called on Ty Emberson? Unless I was hallucinating, I don’t think the refs could have screwed that one up any more if they tried. Brutal call.

5. I’ll tell you one thing, friends. Watching Oilers hockey isn’t nearly as fun without Connor McDavid in the lineup. That’s no shot at anyone else on the roster, but he’s so damned special that not having him there takes some of the fun out of watching the boys do their thing.

6. Just because our captain is suspended doesn’t mean that I won’t still tell you about the Oilers winning 53.3% of the faceoffs. Consistency, my friends. Consistency.

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