Ekholm jumps to Bouchard's defence after brutal Edmonton Oilers loss
The Edmonton Oilers suffered their first regulation loss of the season on Thursday night against the New York Islanders.
It was a sloppy and uninspired effort from the Edmonton side, with Evan Bouchard at the centre of it. The 25-year-old is fresh off signing a lucrative, $42-million contract extension over the summer, but he hasn’t enjoyed a smooth start to that deal.
Bouchard turned the puck over in the neutral zone to spring Matt Barzal on a breakaway to open up the scoring in the first period, and then lost coverage on Bo Horvat in the second for another breakaway goal.
It’s understood that you have to take the good with the bad with Bouchard, but a 4-2 loss to the winless Islanders makes it a hard pill to swallow. Veteran Mattias Ekholm knows this, but jumped to his partner’s defence after the game.
“I know people can be hard on him for the mistakes, but you also have to look at the upside of what he brings,” Ekholm said of Bouchard. “I’m sure he knows that he could have made some other decisions tonight… I’d be careful criticizing him because that’s who he is.
“One of Evan’s superpowers is forgets quick, and he just goes out there and plays his game. I’m pretty sure we’ll see a different Bouchard on Saturday.”
"They had more desperation, they had more oomph in their game."
Mattias Ekholm speaks as the #Oilers drop a 4-2 decision in Long Island.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/pySd2swhIo
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 17, 2025
Bouchard isn’t a bad hockey player, despite what a bevy of fans will say about his horrid night on social media. He indeed plays a high-risk style of game that can lead to ugly nights, like the one against the Islanders, but it’s precisely that style that makes him one of the best offensive defenders in the league.
Bouchard’s job is to move the puck up ice and to make plays, and he cannot do that unless he takes the necessary risks. Unfortunately, the downside of playing that kind of game is turning the puck over sometimes.
Ekholm said as much after the game, but head coach Kris Knoblauch was a bit harsher with his star defenceman.
“I’ve seen Evan play better,” Knoblauch said after the game. “We cannot just accept that. Mistakes happen, but you have to address what type of mistakes are happening.
“Evan is a fantastic player, one of the best in the league, certainly one of the best defencemen in the NHL. Tonight was not his night, but I’ve always seen him respond and play much better after games like this.”
"We’ve got to learn from things that happened."
Coach Knoblauch breaks down the #Oilers performance vs. the Islanders.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/cvAmHaRid5
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 17, 2025
It’s not great to see Bouchard get off to a slow start after signing such a big extension, but the season is still very young. This was Edmonton’s first regulation loss of the season, so the sky is far from falling in the Alberta capital.
Bouchard, however, will have to find a way to make sure nights like this one don’t happen as often.