Edmonton Oilers lose fourth straight game in all too familiar fashion

The Edmonton Oilers lost in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night. While losing in overtime to the defending Stanley Cup Champions might not seem like a disappointment, fans of the Oilers should be worried about how their team is playing on the ice.

Edmonton Oilers lose their fourth straight game in all too familiar fashion.

In their last two games, the Oilers have given up three-goal leads to lose in overtime eventually. On Friday night, Edmonton was up 4-1 after the first period and 4-2 after the second before eventually losing 5-4 in a shootout. Then last night, the Oilers were up 4-2 at the end of the second before eventually losing 6-5 in overtime.

Edmonton had a two-goal lead in the third period of both of their last two games and still ended up losing. While they did pick up a point in each of those games, they need all the points they can get to avoid being in a wild card spot.

Losing against the Oilers and Rangers is not just bad when it comes to the lost points. It is just a bad measuring stick of where the team is. The Oilers were supposed to be one of the top teams in the league this year. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are two of the best players in the NHL and they should be contending for championships. Losing to the Rangers and Avalanche shows this team still is missing out on a lot of talent to succeed.

The Oilers ranked 13th in our power rankings this week. Despite McDavid putting up 100 points, they are still somehow struggling mightily on the ice. Here is what Matt McGinnis, my fellow editor at Puck Prose, had to say about the Oilers.

"This club has more talent at the top of the roster than any other team in the NHL, yet it’s barely a playoff team. Keep an eye on Edmonton at the deadline."

In their past ten games, Edmonton is 4-1-5, which is not horrible, but at the same time, that is a lot of loser points added to the record. Edmonton should get into the playoffs, but when they meet a real contender like the Avalanche in the postseason, they could fall to a similar fate as last year.

The Oilers made it all the way to the conference final last season before getting swept by the Avalanche in that round. Last night the Oilers were leading the Avalanche 5-3 with ten minutes to go in the third period, and the Avalanche still found a way to beat this team.

Time is running out to win with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on their current contracts in Edmonton. Hopefully, the Oilers are active this deadline to improve their team for the playoffs. Maybe Erik Karlsson of the Sharks could make sense for Edmonton.