Regardless of the final result of Wednesday's New Year's Eve clash between the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers, the Oilers were sitting atop the Pacific Division standings as 2025 was set to cross over into 2026. The Vegas Golden Knights lost to Nashville, and Anaheim's overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning meant the Oilers will ring in the new year in first place.
That was the good news. The bad news? After a 6-2 loss, the Oilers didn't exactly look like a first-place team.
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"Just not hard enough, not hard enough to play against, just not detailed enough, certainly can be a lot better," said a frustrated Leon Draisaitl after the loss. In the very short post-game scrum, he wasn't asked much and didn't have a lot to offer. He talked about a 0-6 power play and noted, "I didn't think we had any looks really, not good enough."
Draisaitl was a bit more unhappy with the game than head coach Kris Knoblauch, who commented, "I thought our game was better than the score indicated." He didn't mind the team's first period, but a strong performance by Jeremy Swayman and some missed opportunities led to the game slipping away. When asked whether the game did more than slip away -- a different description might have been spun out of control -- Knoblauch noted that it wasn't clear whether it was a result of poor play or if the chances just ended up in the back of their net.
It could have been a little of both. Connor Ingram struggled. It was not the same performance that he'd been putting in his last three starts, where the feeling was, if he could see the puck, he'd stop it. That didn't happen Wednesday, as a couple of bad goals got past him.
The good?
Connor McDavid had eight shots and was driving hard to the net most of the night. Jack Roslovic also looked solid, scoring a goal and getting promoted off the third line and up to the top six. "Looks like we need him playing in the top six," Knoblauch said.
That third-line situation is teetering on the verge of becoming a genuine concern. Knoblauch felt like he needed to make a switch mid-game and wanted Draisaitl to have a bit more support, which he wasn't getting from the attempt to spark Andrew Mangiapane. As much as the Oilers want to get a third line going, it's now clear the team can't afford to sacrifice the strength of the top two lines.
Knoblauch all but confirmed the Draisaitl, Roslovic, and Vasily Podkolzin trio is the way the Oilers will go moving forward.
As for Mangiapane, he had a good opportunity but didn't do much with it. Knoblauch didn't hate his game, but he played only 7:31. "We made that switch putting Roslovic there. Obviously, we feel that Roslovic is a better player, but I thought Andrew did some things that helped us."
What happens with Mangiapane as the calendar flips over to 2026 will be a storyline worth watching.
Injury Updates:
Knoblauch offered a bit of information on some key injuries. Tristan Jarry is likely mid-January. "I don't think it will be any sooner than that." Jake Walman is out for at least another week, if not two. Kasperi Kapanen could play on the weekend, but he hasn't had the practice time, which the Oilers might want to give him more reps before throwing him into game action.
The Game Results:
The Bruins took the first penalty of the game when Elias Lindholm slashed Bouchard's stick. That leantly was canceled out when Hyman got called for holding. Then in a weird play, Ingram played the puck about an inch outside the trapezoid and got called for it. By then, the Bruins were on a two-man advantage, with David Pastrnak making it 1-0 and scoring. The good news for Edmonton was that the goal came on the second of the two power plays, meaning it was back to 5-on-5.
With six minutes left in the first, McDavid got a break after an icing left him on the ice far longer than his shift should have been. Jeremy Swayman made the stop.
Oilers draw another call. McCavoy took the penalty for holding. The Bruins killed it off.
Casey Mittelstadt came in on the wing and put one past Ingram to make it 2-0 with 1:42 left in the first. It was a good shot, but one Ingram might have wanted back.
The Oilers got on the board with 40 seconds left as McDavid dangled through three Bruins' players and set up Hyman with an easy tap in that Swayman had no chance on. Edmonton had been getting looks but couldn't captialize. They finally did. Draisaitl got another good look to end the period.
The Oilers got a quick power play to start the second period.
A shot Ingram never saw got passed him at the 7:05 mark of the second period. He had two bodies in front of him and could find the puck that went up high.
The Oilers power play troubles have been the story of the game so far. Typically on fire, to this points in the game, it has gone 0-for-4.
The Bruins made it 4-1 when Jonathan Aspirot banged home a rebound on a bit of a broken down 2-on-1. McDavid has been trying to spark the offense, driving to the net and skating hard. He's been the only player to drive hard north, versus pulling up and trying the extra pass.
The Oilers looked to push to start the third, but they continued to look out of sync. Ingram let a stinker in on one he tried to stop with his glove, popped up in the air, and went in. At 5-1, it wasn't looking like the Oilers night.
Jack Roslovic did score as another Oilers power play came and went with no goal. It was a 5-on-5 marker to make it 5-2.
Pastrnak made it 6-2 on big on-timer that snuck through Ingram's five-hole.
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