3 Takeaways from Oilers’ Disheartening 3-0 Loss to the Canadiens

On the night Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played his 900th game, the Edmonton Oilers’ offensive struggles were on full display in a disappointing 3-0 shutout loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Despite facing a backup goalie in Sam Montembeault, the Oilers failed to capitalize on their power play chances and generated little pressure throughout. Defensive lapses and a lack of urgency compounded their issues, marking the third time this season they’ve been shut out. With key players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl neutralized, Edmonton has to be frustrated they little a game they should have won on paper got away from them.

Final from Montreal. The #Oilers will wrap up their three-game trip tomorrow in Ottawa.@SentinelStorage | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/2UX4tJbSFz

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 19, 2024

Here are three takeaways from the Oilers’ disappointing loss.

Oilers Offense Lacked Urgency and Execution

The Oilers’ scoring woes are reaching concerning levels. While credit should go to Montembeault, the Oilers failed to generate high-quality chances or capitalize on their opportunities. It was more troubling that they went 0-4 for on their power plays.

It has been a season-long struggle with special teams and neither Leon Draisaitl nor Connor McDavid looked terribly dangerous. The Canadiens did a solid job of neutralizing and frustrating both stars. Once they’d grown annoyed, the Oilers seemed to show a lack of urgency and tried to make things too complex by overthinking their offense.

With this shutout marking the third time Edmonton has been blanked in 19 games, the Oilers’ traditionally high-scoring roster was unacceptably underwhelming. Their inability to finish chances is becoming a serious problem.

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Bouchard and Ekholm Lead Defensive Concerns and Individual Struggles

Defensively, the Oilers didn’t help out the struggling offense. Calvin Pickard was in goal and while he would have liked the second goal back, he made 22 saves on 24 shots. He was often left out to dry by defensive breakdowns, particularly from Evan Bouchard, who was on the ice for all three of Montreal’s goals. Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm also finished with a minus-3 rating.

While the Canadiens didn’t pepper Pickard with an overwhelming number of shots, they exposed the Oilers without Darnell Nurse and lit up Edmonton’s top defensive pairing. It’s clear the Oilers need to tighten up defensively while also finding ways to support their goaltender with better all-around effort.

Oilers Showed Lack of Compete Level and Consistency

The Oilers’ performance reflected a lack of energy and a concerning absence of compete level. This was a winnable game, yet Edmonton came out flat and never displayed the intensity required to seize control.

The first goal they conceded came from a simple shot thrown on net (a nice tip by Brendan Gallagher). The Canadiens’ young roster, by contrast, played with discipline and commitment in all three zones, repaying Montembeault’s early saves with consistent defensive work. Edmonton’s attempt to rely on flashy, low-percentage plays only made their attack predictable and fairly simple for the Canadiens to shut down.

It’s a worrying trend for the Oilers, who have now dropped back-to-back games they were favored to win. They’ll travel to Ottawa on Tuesday and if they don’t win that game, it might be time to make some serious changes.

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