It must feel like Groundhog Day for the Edmonton Oilers.
For the second time in the past three home games at Rogers Place, the Oilers were laughed off the ice by the visiting club. After a gruelling seven-game road trip where they seemed to be gaining some momentum near the end, Edmonton returned home and got curbstomped by the Dallas Stars to the tune of an 8-3 loss.
It was another lifeless and dull showing by a team that just didn’t look interested in playing hockey. If it weren’t for Connor Clattenburg, a rookie playing in his second-ever NHL game, nobody on the Oilers appeared to be bothered to show any emotion or fight.
Clattenburg, at the very least, scored his first NHL goal and wasn’t shy to throw his body around every chance he got. His teammates looked like they were playing an entirely different game.
The Oilers look broken, and it’ll be largely up to the two big leaders on this team, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, to fix them. Both players met with the media after the game and looked as frustrated as ever.
“Don’t really have an answer right now,” Draisaitl said. “Just clearly, start to finish, not good enough… Everything is very concerning. We’re nearly 30 games in and still don’t seem to have it down or know what we are. I don’t really know what to say; it’s just not good enough now.
“The time is right now. Like right now. Like tomorrow. We just got to be better. It’s very simple, we have to be better.”
“Start to finish not good enough.”
Leon Draisaitl addresses the media after the #Oilers 8-3 loss to the Stars.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/cbysgD8o2n
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 26, 2025
The lack of answers from Draisaitl and the fact that he is lamenting that this team doesn’t really have a grasp on their identity is concerning. This is a veteran group that has gone to the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive years. They know how to have success, and yet they find themselves struggling to be competitive on a nightly basis.
It’s starting to get dire, and the clock is ticking to salvage the season. McDavid was clearly upset in his media availability, but he did try to strike a bit of an optimistic tone in the team’s overall belief.
“I don’t have many answers for you tonight,” McDavid said. “The group still has lots of confidence. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but there’s still an overarching belief that we will figure it out.
“Obviously doesn’t look that way now, but at least I still feel it.”
“There’s still an overarching belief that we will figure it out.”
Connor McDavid speaks after the #Oilers defeat to Dallas at @RogersPlace.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/uITzq09CGJ
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 26, 2025
Team defence was another big storyline in the blowout loss, but so was goaltending, if you could believe it. Stuart Skinner was pulled after an abysmal first period, where he allowed four goals on the first eight shots he faced. Calvin Pickard came on in relief and did better, but still let four more goals get past him.
That performance came amid rumours that the Oilers have been kicking around in the trade market for a new goaltender.
Both McDavid and Draisaitl were asked about goaltending, to which both defended their teammates and pointed out that the overall team play was to blame.
If the Oilers want to get back to their winning ways, it will have to start from the top of the lineup with McDavid and Draisaitl leading the way.