On Tuesday night, the Edmonton Oilers lost in a shootout to the Dallas Stars 4-3. This means the Oilers blew 2-0 leads in back-to-back games, dropping their to 6-5-4 through 15 games and the team sits just outside a wild card spot.
This is not a new issue at all and has been plaguing the team quite a bit this year with the team choking up a two-goal lead six times this year. It is not a 'Defcon One' type of emergency but there are some clear issues with the Oilers consistently blowing leads like this.
Despite this consistent theme this year however, the past two games has seen the Oilers outplay their opponents, if only slightly. Looking at moneypuck.com, against the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars the team generated more expected goals at 5-on-5.
Oilers inability to play with a lead
The club has been blowing leads left and right this year. It is a positive sign that the team is at least being able to gain a lead to begin with and in many cases start the game on time by coming out ahead but it is unsustainable. Eventually, if the Oilers continue to cough up these leads and end up with a loss -- overtime or regulation -- the team could find themselves trying to battle for a playoff spot down the stretch.
It is such an issue that Oilers reporter Jason Gregor revealed on X that the club leads the league in blown multi-goal leads having done it four times this season.
Oilers lose in a shootout.
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) November 5, 2025
They have league-high four blown multi-goal leads.
Also only have two goals on 11 shootout attempts this season.
Looking at the replies, you see plenty of Oilers fans pointing fingers. The main culprits seem to be; Stuart Skinner, Kris Knoblauch, and Evan Bouchard.
It is hard to blame any one player or coach for that matter, in isolated plays sure but these three are nothing more than scapegoats. It is much more boring but many times a team that plays with a lead will choke it up because they are simply playing with a lead and there are only two outcomes to any given game.
The Oilers have been playing well despite losses
The Oilers 2025-26 season record so far is nothing to write home about. It is a very mediocre start to the year and there are legitimate problems facing the team. The team is still having issues scoring at even strength and is a problem that will need to be addressed going forward.
However, by most underlying metrics, the Oilers have been playing well this year and are continuing to improve (evolving-hockey.com). On the season the team rank 23rd in CF/60, 5th in CA/60, 7th in xGF/60, and 11th in xGA/60.
Their actual production shows a different view with them ranking 27th in GF/60 and 17th in GA/60. This means they are considerably underperforming their advanced stats and are likely due for a regression (in a positive direction). The team's shooting percentage is 29th (7.53 percent) and their save percentage is 27th (89.57), combining to a 97.1 PDO.
PDO is widely known as a 'luck' stat and as a general rule if your team is under 100, your team is unlucky. A 97.1 PDO is not horrible but again supports the notion that the Oilers are due for a regression to the mean, it just depends on when and if.