The Edmonton Oilers entered Saturday's game against the New Jersey Devils on the third leg of their five game East Coast road trip.
Although not a must-win game, the Oilers play early in the 2025-26 National Hockey League season has left a lot to be desired. Their depth scoring struggling to produce, as well at even strength, and some shaky play between the pipes amongst other things have left Oilers fans uneasy.
The Oilers have also struggled with injuries to start the year, especially to a few key players. Forward Zach Hyman is expected to be out until November and as of right now, defenceman Jake Walman has yet to make his season debut.
This game had a little bit of it all with the Oilers falling 5-3 against the Devils.
Lack of depth scoring
One of the biggest issues plaguing the Oilers to start the year is their lack of depth scoring and just as badly, being unable to score at even strength. Their Saturday game against the Devils was not much better, with two of their three goals coming from their top-six by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Curtis Lazar scored the other goal for his first as an Oiler and as he came in to replace top rookie Ike Howard in the lineup. He joins an exclusive group of Adam Henrique and Noah Philp as the two other depth players to score goals this season.
The team has also struggled to score goals at even strength, currently having scored three of their 13 goals on the man advantage. This means of the five games the Oilers have played, they have averaged two goals at even strength per game. Although having a strong powerplay is important, scoring at a low rate is not ideal.
This is especially true when the team is not getting scoring from their depth.
Goaltending woes
The Oilers netminders have gotten a lot of attention from the media and fans who have raised the questions surrounding the team's crease. It is understandable given the struggles that the Oilers have had in net, causing management to hire a new goaltending coach this summer, Peter Aubry.
Aside from a shutout performance by starting goalie Stuart Skinner, there is not a lot to be confident about between the pipes. In this game, backup Calvin Pickard struggled, allowing four goals on the 22 shots he faced. He left the game with a .818 save percentage, bringing his season totals down to 1-1-0 and a 2.54 goals against average and a .865 save percentage.
The season is still young but so far, there are some genuine concerns for the Oilers who have been able to dominate in scoring chances and shots for the most part to start the year. Although, in this game the Oilers were arguably outplayed by the Devils, according to the analytics from moneypuck.com.
Looking ahead
The Oilers have two more games left on their road trip, they currently have a 1-2-0 record in three games. On Sunday they take on the Detroit Red Wings and then on Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators.
These games will be a good test to see how their depth and goalies can perform, especially against two young and exciting teams.