Oilers Fall To Jets In Opening Night Blowout

In the words of Connor McDavid, "That's not good enough".

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That's about all that can be said after the Oilers dropped their season opener 6-0 to the Jets on Wednesday night. Despite outshooting Winnipeg 30-19, the Oilers never looked cohesive or confident, while the Jets feasted on their defensive miscues all night long.

The Oilers outplayed the Jets for the first ten minutes of the game, but started to tire later on as Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton gave the Jets a 2-0 lead in the final five minutes of the first period.

The real issues started in the second period. The Jets capitalized on a gassed Oilers fourth line with a Rasmus Kupari goal, and followed it up 20 seconds later on the rush with a Dylan Samberg shot that Stuart Skinner should've stopped. A Kyle Connor powerplay marker five minutes later ended Skinner's night.

The Oilers improved in front of Calvin Pickard, allowing only six shots on net in the second half of the game. The Jets still piled on, though, with a Mark Scheifele tally on a late third-period powerplay.

Despite putting 30 shots on Connor Hellebuyck, the Oilers never really felt close to scoring. They were a mess in their own end, though Stuart Skinner's .615 save percentage did them no favours.

It's still early, and the Oilers' problems on Wednesday night were not problems of personnel. The team's bottom three lines were all dangerous early, and the defencemen had their moments in the Jets' zone. But the Oilers simply lacked cohesion, creativity, and confidence, and were worn down by the Jets' energetic forecheck and steadfast defensive structure.

After last year's disastrous start, the Oilers simply cannot afford to go into this weekend's back-to-back in the same form they showed in the season opener. It's a long season, but it gets late fast.

Oilers Player(s) of the Game: The Third Line

Obviously, not a lot of positives for the Oilers. Their best performers were the third line of Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, and Connor Brown. Kris Knoblauch said as much, noting Brown's deflections in the slot and his play with Janmark on the penalty kill.

The team's third line was a question point coming into the season, being bumped up in the lineup after an excellent playoff run as the fourth line. If there's one positive to come out of Wednesday night's performance, it's that this trio seems to have no problem with a little bit of increased opportunity.

Oilers Play of the Game

In a bit of an upset, the Oilers come out of the brutal shutout loss with a true play of the game. Not only that, but it comes from a goalie who allowed five goals on 13 shots. His first save was his best, stymying Mark Scheifele on a breakaway chance early on. I'm going to be nice and ignore Evan Bouchard's turnover at the blueline.

The Oilers get a chance to erase the bad feelings from Wednesday's game on Saturday night, in a Hockey Night in Canada matchup with Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.

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