When the Oilers were recently beaten by the Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals, it represented the first occasion losing two consecutive games in regulation time since Nov. 6. At the time, it was seen as a minor reason for concern, backed up by the team then rebounding by winning their next three games.
However, the Oilers have now lost two games in a row once again, albeit at least picking up a 'loser' point in one of the contests. They gave up a two-goal lead to the Detroit Red Wings and lost in overtime, followed up by falling behind 4-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night and ultimately coming up just short in a 4-3 defeat.
What makes these two losses even more frustrating was that they both came at home, where the Oilers should arguably be more consistent and better prepared. In any event, they have now lost four of their last seven games overall, going 3-3-1 in the process.
Interestingly this indifferent form hasn't impacted how the main sports media outlets in North America perceive the Oilers right now, although that will change if things don't get back on track soon. In any event, let's get to the latest round of NHL power rankings.
Continuing to give the Oilers the most love
As always we begin with The Athletic (subscription required), who continue to keep the Oilers at number two for a third successive week. These rankings were published prior to the Maple Leafs game, so we suspect they would have been moved down at least one place if that contest had been included.
There's no theme as such this time around, with Sean Gentille instead almost sounding likes he's manifesting the future, indicating the Oilers haven't lost three in a row since the first three games of the season. He goes on to say there's too much talent for the team to remain in the tank for long, but while he's right, it's going to be interesting to see how they respond on Tuesday night in St. Louis.
Next up it's NHL.com, who have actually moved the Oilers up from fourth to third place in their 'Super 16' rankings. Although for context this makes sense when you consider it doesn't include the two most recent contests and with the team at that point riding a three-game winning streak and sitting in the rare - for them -- position of first place in the Pacific Division.
There are only 14 voters this week for NHL.com as opposed to the usual 15, but in any event the Oilers received the most positivity from Mike Zeisberger, Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke, who all place them at number two. The worst ranking -- which isn't really that bad -- comes from Mike G. Morreale, who puts the team in seventh place.
As for this week's theme, the focus continues to be on the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, with Derek Van Diest refusing to go with the obvious choice of Connor McDavid as the Oilers player to look out for. Instead, Van Diest focuses on Mattias Ekholm as a player primed to have a monster tournament for Sweden, which we tend to agree with given what a rock he continues to be in Edmonton.
Deja vu the rest of the way
Turning to Sportsnet, they have followed the same path as NHL.com in moving the Oilers up from fourth to third spot. Again though this doesn't take into account the two most recent games, which we are confident would have impacted the team's ranking differently.
The latest theme for Sportsnet has Ryan Dixon giving some exposure to the shorter players on each team, with Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner getting the focus in Edmonton. Not that they will want it, with Dixon quite rightly noting they have both been disappointments in their first season with the Oilers; coincidentally, both players have 17 points at the time of writing, but we have (slightly) more confidence in Arvidsson becoming a better asset.
Finally we come to Bleacher Report, who have followed exactly the same path as NHL.com and Sportsnet in respect of ranking moves and games accounted for. It's hard to argue with Lyle Fitzsimmons rationale though, with him noting at the time of publishing his rankings, that the Oilers had the most regulation wins in the NHL since the beginning of 2025.