3 Takeaways As Oilers Lose Third Straight Game 3-1 to Islanders

The Edmonton Oilers played their first of six consecutive games on the road Tuesday (Dec. 19), losing 3-1 to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. Leon Draisaitl scored at just 1:23 of the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead, but the Islanders answered with second-period goals from Simon Holmstrom, Bo Horvat and Anders Lee.

Islanders’ goaltender Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 of 31 shots in a winning effort, while Stuart Skinner made 18 saves for the Oilers. After going three weeks without a loss, the Oilers have now lost three consecutive games. Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s tilt on Long Island:

Ups and Downs Continue for Oilers

What a difference a week can make. On the previous Tuesday (Dec. 12), Edmonton spanked the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at Rogers Place to win its eighth consecutive game. The Oilers were the hottest team in the league, and the denizens of Oil Country were feeling pretty darn good about things.

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Back inside Rogers Place two nights later, last Thursday (Dec. 14), Edmonton led the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 going into the third period. Twenty minutes was all that separated the Oilers from a franchise record-tying ninth consecutive victory.

Since then, the Oilers have been outscored 13-3 over the last seven periods: a third-period meltdown resulted in a 7-4 loss to the Bolts, followed Saturday (Dec. 16) with a 5-1 home drubbing at the hands of the Florida Panthers, and now this latest loss to the Isles.

Over 16 games since they relieved head coach Jay Woodcroft of his duties and replaced him behind the bench with Kris Knoblauch, the Oilers’ only consistency has been inconsistency. Edmonton won its first two games under Knoblauch, lost the next three, reeled off eight straight wins, and now have dropped three straight again.

All told, the Oilers are 10-6 following the coaching change, which is still a huge turnaround from their 3-9-1 record before Woodcroft was fired. But Edmonton’s early-season problems that once seemed fixed under the stewardship of Knoblauch and assistant coach Paul Coffey have reappeared.

Oilers’ Fate Sealed on Special Teams

One such issue is special teams play. Edmonton had seen huge improvements, going 44% (11/25) on the power play and 96.2% (25/26) on the penalty kill over its eight straight wins. But the Oilers have now failed to score on their last seven opportunities with the man advantage and…