Oilers Flounder Offensively In Shutout Loss To Canadiens

Sometimes, all you can say is "yikes".

That's about all there is to say about the Oilers' 3-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night. Not only were they shut out by one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL, they got flat-out outplayed by the league's 30th-ranked team.

The result is one of the most deflating losses in a season full of them for the Edmonton Oilers.

The game didn't start out that way. The Oilers positively dominated early in the first period, with both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl imposing their will on the Habs' defenders. Their best chance came from none other than McDavid, literally skating circles around the Canadiens before finding Zach Hyman, who proceeded to fan on the shot. It was a sign of things to come.

The Oilers' offensive struggles were all-encompassing, but they were at their worst on the powerplay. The Oilers went 0-for-3 on Monday night, and they deserved it. Too many passes, too many of them predictable, and absolutely no secondary chances.

The trio of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Jeff Skinner continued their snakebitten ways, leading Oilers forwards in shots but still unable to score.

Not that Montreal fared much better through the first 40 minutes. Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard matched his counterpart Sam Montembeault save for save through the first two frames, as neither team could find the back of the net.

The Canadiens finally broke through in the final minute of the second period, when Brendan Gallagher took advantage of the scrambling Oilers to tip a puck past Pickard and give Montreal the lead. Despite out-shooting and out-chancing their opponents to that point, the Oilers never recovered.

The third period was all Canadiens, outshooting the Oilers 11-9 and winning the expected goals battle almost 3 to 1. Kaiden Guhle extended the Habs' lead five minutes into the period by beating Pickard from the faceoff circle, and Jake Evans put them away with a long-range empty-netter late in the third. That was that.

Full credit goes to Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault, who was legitimately great, especially in the first two periods. The Oilers didn't make it too hard on him, but he didn't give them anything either.

This is a gut-check moment for the Oilers. After blowing a third-period lead in Toronto and now getting completely shut down in Montreal, they need a win on Tuesday in Ottawa to avoid going 0-3 on their road trip through eastern Canada.

As Edmonton Sports Talk's Reid Wilkins noted on Twitter, the Oilers' 19th game last season was a 5-0 beatdown of the Washington Capitals that sparked their incredible turnaround. After 19 games of mostly uninspiring hockey this season, the Oilers need that spark more now than ever. It remains to be seen whether they'll get it.

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