Dallas Stars goaltender Casey Desmith (1) blocks a shot from Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) during a shootout in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
St. Louis Blues' Pius Suter (22) scores past Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard (30) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
EDMONTON - Connor McDavid says it's time for the Edmonton Oilers to get their act together and get going.
Speaking to the media after a fast-paced, hour-long practice Friday, the Oilers captain said the team has to begin playing with a little more desperation, a little more urgency.聽
And it has to start now.
鈥淔ifteen games in 鈥 we鈥檙e in the meat of the season now,鈥 McDavid said of the Oilers. 鈥淭wo games here, then we go on a long road trip, a lot of hockey, a lot on the road. It鈥檚 time we get going.鈥
The Oilers have had notoriously slow starts the previous few seasons and while their 6-5-4 record is a noticeable improvement, the team has fallen into a habit of surrendering leads and losing recent games.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done it six times,鈥 McDavid said of blowing leads. 鈥淲e have to talk about it, something we have to figure out. That鈥檚 an area we have to clean up.鈥
Head coach Kris Knoblauch said giving up the two-goal leads in their last two losses 鈥 3-2 to St. Louis and 4-3 to Dallas 鈥 was the result of multiple mistakes.
He said the Oiler players have failed to stay engaged after costly turnovers, letting opponents beat them to the net.
鈥淲e can have turnovers, but it鈥檚 how we react to those turnovers,鈥 he said. 鈥淎 couple of games we left slip away when guys got beat back to the net.鈥
The Oilers had a 2-0 lead midway through their game against St. Louis, which came into Edmonton on a seven-game losing streak. They were up 2-0 after the first period against Dallas.
鈥淲e鈥檙e putting ourselves in good spots,鈥 McDavid said of the early leads. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not closing them out, something we鈥檙e normally quite good at. That hasn鈥檛 been the trend this year, something we have to figure out.鈥
McDavid said the flow of the game has 鈥渇elt disconnected鈥 at times and that makes it more difficult to play the way the team wants.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 been that way for a little bit,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e have areas we have to clean up, we know what we鈥檙e doing, we have to get back to it. We have to get on the forecheck, get some pucks back, get through the neutral zone, that鈥檚 been a real problem for us, and we have to find a way to do a better job of it.鈥
The Oilers will face a tough challenge Saturday evening when the Central Division leading Colorado Avalanche (8-1-5) are in town.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great challenge for us, a team that鈥檚 got our attention,鈥 McDavid said.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Nov. 7, 2025.
The 好色tv Press. All rights reserved.
It鈥檚 a little-known fact that Canada鈥檚 credit unions are among the country鈥檚 stron…
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