It’s still early in the 2025-26 NHL season, but there’s a sense of disappointment in the Oilers’ dressing room that they weren’t able to follow up Thursday’s defeat to the Islanders with a better result – whether that’s two points in the standings or even an improved effort from the entire group, which wasn’t the case on Saturday against the Devils.
Win or lose, the Oilers want to find a way to improve each game, and the captain hopes they can learn from their mistakes quickly against the Red Wings and show a bit more forward progress following back-to-back defeats.
“These two points still count, and we talk about getting off to a good start, and we want to get off to a good start,” McDavid said. “So these games matter, and it’s important. We didn’t find a way to win or get better today, so maybe the second part’s a little more important than the first.
“Results matter, but I didn’t like that we didn’t seem to get any better today.”
Things won’t get any easier for the Oilers as they get set to conclude their back-to-back against a red-hot Red Wings side that’s won four straight games following a 2-1 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.
Goaltender John Gibson stopped 31 of 32 shots for his first victory with Detroit and is slated to start against the Oilers opposite of Stuart Skinner, who’ll be between the pipes again for Edmonton after Calvin Pickard allowed four goals on 22 shots in yesterday’s defeat to the Devils.
Stuart Skinner is one win away from becoming the third-fastest goalie in Oilers history to reach the 100-win mark – currently sitting on 99 career victories through 176 NHL appearances (171 starts).
The Oilers went 1-0-1 against the Red Wings last season and have now earned at least a point in seven consecutive games against them dating back to the 2021-22 season (5-0-2), including three straight meetings at Little Caesars Arena, where they’ve allowed two goals in each game.