The Edmonton Oilers may never win three games in a row again.

All season long, its been two steps forward, one step back.

Two wins, and a loss.

The Oilers are just one of four teams in the league this year who haven’t won three straight games, joining the Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken and the St. Louis Blues. Not great company to be in.

They beat the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers in the second and third games of the season, then lost to the New York Islanders. They beat the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens on October 21st and 23rd, then lost to the Seattle Kraken.

They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers in early November, then lose to the Blue Jackets. They beat the Kraken and the Winnipeg Jets, then lost to the Buffalo Sabres.

They beat the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins this week, then lost to the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Saturday afternoon.

On the plus side? They close out their five-game road trip with a 3-2 record.

“The five games I thought we played pretty good hockey in four of them,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “I thought we played well against Minnesota in both games (this month), and unfortunately, we haven’t had anything to show for it in the points. But you know, after you lose any games, you’re always disappointed. But I like the guys’ effort.”

The Oilers got down early with Matt Boldy scoring two goals in the first 11 minutes of the game, but they didn’t roll over and show their belly. Andrew Mangiapane would score his first goal in 22 games, dating back to the beginning of November, tipping home an Evan Bouchard point shot, while Connor McDavid would tie it up on the power play minutes later.

Minnesota would regain their lead with eight seconds left in the first period, and never looked back.

“It was nice that we tied it up, fought back after being down two nothing and (were) able to tie it up,” said Knoblauch. “Unfortunately, that’s a big goal at the end of the first period — one that shouldn’t happen.

“(It) really hurt us, but I thought we kept our composure, and I thought we had a good push after that. We had many opportunities to tie it up in the third. Nuge had a glorious chance, Leon the one timer and then they were able to score and then two goals late in the game, that’s pretty tough to come back again.”

It’s a quick turnaround for the team, who fly back to Edmonton to face the Vegas Golden Knights tonight, and the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night before the Christmas break begins. Right out of it, they visit the Flames on Saturday night, and the Winnipeg Jets on the 29th, before hosting the Boston Bruins on New Year’s Eve.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.