3 Takeaways as Oilers suffer another loss to the Canucks

3) Frustration boils over for Oilers

In some respects, the death knell came when the Oilers — quite rightly — had a goal disallowed early in the third period. Replays appeared showed Warren Foegele kicking the puck into the net.

Making this even more frustrating for the Oilers, was that it likely would have still been a goal without Foegele’s extra ‘touch’. Regardless, instead of getting back into the game at 4-3, the scoreline remained 4-2 and there was no coming back for the Oilers after this.

As a result, tempers started to flare up for a team which is desperately searching for answers to rekindle their fighting spirit. It’s open to debate, if doing this in a literal sense is the solution.

Regardless, that’s exactly what happened, as McDavid got into a shoving match with J.T. Miller. Zach Hyman then became involved, and he was subsequently penalised two minutes for roughing, along with Miller.

However, things were just getting started, as McDavid received a roughing penalty of his own after shoving Suter. This resulted in a mass ‘gathering’ on the ice of players from both teams, which ended with Leon Draisaitl received a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

In reality, the penalties the Oilers’ two superstars received were unnecessary, but in many ways represented the anger of a team which is lost and seemingly out of ideas. Heck, this even spilled over to the bench, as coach Jay Woodcroft was ejected with 6:47 remaining in the contest.

Postgame, Woodcroft denied using any profanities, but acknowledged he should have approached things differently, when arguing a penalty should’ve been called for a hard hit on Dylan Holloway. He said:

"“In the end, I’ve got to be better. I didn’t think it crossed the line at all, but sometimes the way you send a message or ask a question, the way it’s received might not be in the manner you intended (it) to.”"

Quote of the day

As much as it doesn’t help the team on the ice, Stuart Skinner was honest about his shortcomings on Monday night. Speaking postgame to the media, he said:

"“It’s hard, because these guys are working their bags off. We had 18 shots, I think, in the first seven minutes. Pretty impressive, and (Thatcher) Demko did a great job, but that’s the guy I’ve got to beat out.”"

Next up, the Oilers will travel to San Jose to play the only team with fewer points in the NHL. Suffice it say, if they somehow lose to the Sharks on Thursday night, it will constitute rock bottom in a season where things continue to spiral from one disaster to another.