Edmonton Oilers set unfortunate franchise record after blowing another lead
The Edmonton Oilers didn’t only blow another lead in Tuesday night’s loss to the Dallas Stars, but they also made some franchise history in the process.
For the second night in a row, the Oilers seemed to be in control of a hockey game with a 2-0 lead over the Stars at the halfway mark of the game. Dallas did cut that down to 2-1, but a Connor McDavid goal seemed to give Edmonton insurance in the second period.
That, however, didn’t prove to be enough as the Stars scored two goals on five shots in the final frame to knot things up and ultimately send the game to a shootout. Leon Draisaitl scored a highlight-reel goal in the shootout, but Stuart Skinner could not make a stop, letting in two goals to lose the game by a score of 4-3.
This is the fourth time in the first 15 games of the season that the Oilers have lost a game while blowing a multi-goal lead, which just so happens to be a franchise record.
This is the first time in history that the Oilers have lost 4 games when leading by multiple goals within the first 15 games of a season
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 5, 2025
It felt like deja vu for Oilers fans, who had just seen the team blow a 2-0 lead to the St. Louis Blues the night before en route to a last-minute regulation loss. It’s a concerning trend and showcases two of the biggest struggles this team has been having so far this season: keeping the puck out of the net and scoring at opportune times.
The other moments that Edmonton has blown a multi-goal lead and lost a game this season came in the home-opener against the Calgary Flames, where they led 3-0 only to lose 4-3 in a shootout, and just last week against the New York Rangers, where a 3-1 lead resulted in a 4-3 OT loss.
“It’s difficult to handle that,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “It’s one thing if the opposition is making good plays and beating your coverage, but we’re making mistakes, we’re giving them opportunities.
“We got to make big plays at critical times and not make the mistakes at critical times… We need to step up our game.”
Edmonton is near the bottom of the league in PDO (which adds together team save percentage and shot percentage) and is tied for 28th in team save percentage. It was another forgettable night for the Oilers’ goaltending, with Skinner posting a .889 after allowing three goals on 27 shots.
Having a low PDO suggests some positive regression is bound to hit at some point, but it’s not helping when both goaltenders are leaking goals against and the offence is having long stretches of inactivity.
It’s becoming a big concern of late to see this team sit back when they build up a lead, when they should instead focus on adding more goals.
Something will need to change with a tough stretch of the schedule yet to come this month.