3 Takeaways From Oilers’ Brutal 7-3 Loss to Capitals – The Hockey Writers Edmonton Oilers Latest News, Analysis & More

The Edmonton Oilers played the second half of a back-to-back against the Washington Capitals in a Sunday matinee (Feb. 23). For the second straight game, the Oilers were embarrassed. They lost this game 7-3, and deservedly so. The Capitals completely dominated, and proved why they are one of the league’s best teams.

Related: Alex Ovechkin’s Hat Trick Highlights 7-3 Capitals’ Win Over Oilers

Washington got goals from Tom Wilson, Jakob Chychrun, Connor McMichael, Dylan Strome, and a hat trick from Alex Ovechkin, who continues to inch closer to the NHL goal record. The Oilers got goals from Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Jeff Skinner. The Oilers have lost three straight games for the first time since Oct. 9-13. Here are three takeaways from this pathetic performance.

Oilers’ Line Juggling in Full Effect

Head coach Kris Knoblauch shuffled the lines after yesterday’s embarrassing debacle against the Philadelphia Flyers. All four lines were different, and it was a surprise, but this team needed a spark. Knoblauch is known to shuffle the deck frequently during the game and make adjustments, but this lineup was a talking point because it’s completely out of the ordinary. This is how they lined up at puck drop.

The @EdmontonOilers in Washington:

Podkolzin-McDavid-Kapanen
Perry-Draisaitl-Savoie
Arvidsson-RNH-Hyman
J. Skinner-Henrique-Brown

Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Kulak-Klingberg

Pickard

— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) February 23, 2025

However, these new-look lines did not work as the Oilers got hammered. This game was over after the second period, and there was no coming back. There’s no sugarcoating it, these lines were brutal. Connor McDavid played with two bottom-sixers; Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen, who was a healthy scratch last game. Draisaitl was also on a line with 39-year-old Corey Perry who is no longer a top-six player. The chemistry was nonexistent, and most of the forward group looked lost. I understand trying new things, but these lines were destined to fail.

Kris Knoblauch Made Questionable Coaching Decisions

On top of the questionable lineup changes Knoblauch made pregame, his in-game adjustments were worse. There’s zero accountability with this team unless your name is Jeff Skinner. Skinner can score goals, and improve defensively, but somehow still ends up on the fourth line, or healthy scratched the next game. However, Viktor Arvidsson took a brutal penalty in the first period which led to a goal, and he was thrown right back out there.

Edmonton had back-to-back power plays to start the second period, and Adam Henrique was on the second unit. The power play generated nothing and was incredibly slow and stationary. Matt Savoie should’ve replaced Henrique. The youngster is quicker, and more skilled than the veteran Henrique, but Knoblauch didn’t want to play the kid. Savoie had a team-low 10:38 of ice time. The team was down 5-1 after two periods, but you can’t find more ice time for him? That’s incredibly disappointing. How is he supposed to develop if you don’t put him in all situations? As mentioned in a recent article, he needs to be stapled on Draisaitl’s wing and let him play, and learn. He was one of the few players that brought some energy and intensity to the game, yet the coaching staff didn’t play him enough. Knoblauch needs to use better judgment and make better decisions moving forward.

Oilers With Another Embarrassing Effort

This might sound harsh, but this team is in trouble. They can’t defend, their penalty kill is abysmal, they are getting terrible goaltending, and their captain has been mediocre. All that combined results in games like this. They looked like they were skating in quicksand. They were extremely slow and couldn’t win a puck battle, or race to lose pucks. McDavid is minus-9 during this three-game losing streak, and that’s unacceptable. He only has one five-on-five point since returning from his three-game suspension. They need more from their captain to turn this thing around.

They looked completely checked out, disinterested, unmotivated, and lazy. “They were making plays, outskating us, and we looked like a slow team tonight. Everyone needs to dig in and be a little bit better. That’s on our backcheck, our breakouts, our passing, our penalty kill, everything could be a little bit better,” Knoblauch stated during his postgame presser. This team needs to ramp up their compete level and attention to detail if they want to get back on track. Even though we just had a two-week break, they need a hard reset.

The Oilers were exposed this weekend, and have many holes to fill, but limited assets to do so. They need a goaltending upgrade, a top-four-right shot defender, a legitimate top-six winger, and help in the bottom-six. That’s a long shopping list, so general manager Stan Bowman better get on the phone and make something happen. This team needs serious help if they intend to lift Lord Stanley in June. Right now, they don’t look good enough.

It doesn’t get any easier as the Oilers head to Florida to continue their five-game road trip with a Tuesday night tilt (Feb. 25) against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Will their brutal play continue, or will they finally figure it out? Something needs to change, and fast.