The Edmonton Oilers returned home last night, following a quick two-game trip through Calgary and Winnipeg, to face the Boston Bruins. Entering the final game of 2025, the Oilers were 9–3–1 over their previous 12 games. They were looking to make it 10–3–1, all while never winning more than two games in a row. Somehow, that’s possible.
Boston this year has been an interesting team; they started off hot, and are still above .500, yet outside the playoff picture. When the Oilers saw the Bruins earlier in December, they walked away with a 3–1 win. Tristan Jarry got the win in that game, but left it with his team ahead, due to injury. He still hasn’t played a game since, though his new Oilers goalie mask has been presented in the meantime.
The Bruins hadn’t won since the game right before that December 18 showdown in Beantown. Yet, you wouldn’t know it by the final score, as the Bruins made their scoring chances count. Edmonton, meanwhile, had a tough time solving Jeremy Swayman, who showed a glimpse of why he got paid by Bruins GM Don Sweeney with a stellar performance. Not even .900 goaltending would have given the Oilers the edge, though things would have been much closer.
Oilers lose 6–2.
Rough way to end 2025. Maybe, hopefully, it’s just getting the last home-ice beatdown out of the system before beginning 2026. Here’s the game story.
Slow starts are starting to creep back into the Oilers’ game
Against the Calgary Flames, the Oilers fell behind 1–0 and were getting pumped 8–1 in shots on goal. Through one period in Winnipeg on Monday night, the Oilers were still in a scoreless tie with the Jets, but were being outshot 15–9. Those are not ideal ways to start hockey games, and the Oilers were lucky to have their goalies bail them out.
This night made it three games in a row with a start more lethargic than this observer is, when unable to stop at Coffee Bureau in the morning. The Bruins, mid as they may be, still have lethal scoring weapons. David Pastrnak will always make you pay for mistakes.
Once again, look at the shots on goal. With that Pastrnak tally, the Bruins opened on a 6–1 run. This absolutely has to stop happening. It’s like when Edmonton Transit alters a route schedule, so that the bus comes five minutes earlier. You’re allowed to miss the bus once or twice, but you don’t keep going out there at the same time as before. Adjust, and stop missing the bus. Show up on time for the start of the game, please.
A Team Canada snub means we get the most elite Zach Hyman
Connor McDavid was announced a while ago as one of the first six players to make Team Canada. When the full roster was revealed earlier today, Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman were absent from it. Sure, Bouchard hasn’t been perfect, and Hyman missed the first month with injury, but those are still tough snubs.
We’ve seen this movie before, though. Last season, after being snubbed by Team Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off, Hyman became an absolute force for a good stretch of time. This season might end up being more of the same- although to be fair, this was just masterful work by McDavid on the rush against the Bruins. But Hyman knew exactly where to be, and made a sharp-angle shot work perfectly. He’s been hot already in December, but that heat might well go up to 11 now.
Speaking of wingers snubbed from Olympic rosters, Jack Roslovic also scored in the third period. It was a late gasp of life from the Oilers that didn’t amount to anything, ultimately. But it would be cool if this is the start of another Roslovic heater.
Apart from McDavid and Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm might be the only one going to Milan in February. That means every other Oiler is free to use not making an Olympic squad as motivation to drive harder through the second half of the NHL campaign. Certainly the bigger names, at least.
Not the best game from Connor Ingram on this night
Connor Ingram was 2-1–0 in his first three starts as an Edmonton Oiler. And despite losing to the Flames on Saturday, he kept the Oilers in it until the final second. His stats so far told a promising tale, with a goals-against average of 2.35 and a .915 save percentage. He showed why he was once viewed by the Arizona Coyotes as a potential starting goalie.
Then you look at his career averages, which are a 3.11 GAA and save percentage just a tick above .900. You hope those three games weren’t some insane heater. But on this night, there was indeed a regression to the mean, of sorts. Some goals, like the Hampus Lindholm tally, you can’t fault him for when he has his entire vision taken away by former Oiler Viktor Arvidsson. Arvidsson was seemingly given carte blanche at the net-front. C’mon, guys.
But other tallies, like the ones from Casey Mittelstadt and Jonathan Aspirot, you’d like a save from Ingram on. The Mittelstadt goal should be saveable from that range, and the Aspirot goal saw Ingram lose his positioning. There may or may not have been interference, but Ingram, you’re outside the blue paint now. You’re not likely to win that case.
Ingram finished with just 23 saves on 29 shots. If he had stopped 26 of 29, like he did against the Vegas Golden Knights last week, it still wouldn’t have been good enough. But he would have done his part, so that the issue could correctly be noted as the Oilers not scoring enough. On this night, however, he compounded the problem presented by the strong game from the other goalie.
At least there were plenty of other games to ease this one’s sting
The glorious thing about New Year’s Eve is you’re guaranteed a packed, stacked, and all that sports schedule. The NHL always has a loaded schedule on New Year’s Eve ahead of the Winter Classic, for one. The NBA had just as many games going on as the NHL last night. And the World Juniors saw Canada defeat Finland in a thrilling 7–4 shootout, which was played nearly concurrently with this Oilers contest.
In other words, December 31 might be the best day of the year for the Oilers to have a clunker. People can not only go party and forget about the result, but take joy in other, more favourable results, like the Buffalo Sabres getting their 10th win in a row at the expense of the Dallas Stars. For what it’s worth, the Oilers started the fireworks show early, with some fights at this game’s conclusion.
Player perspective
“Too many turnovers at the blue (line). We’re a skilled team, we can make plays… we weren’t seeing them tonight, (and) there’s times we need to just keep it simple.” -Jack Roslovic
Happy new year! Here’s to hoping 2026 is “mission accomplished”
2025 wasn’t the greatest, that can be agreed upon. Whereas the Oilers getting to Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final felt like the biggest leap of progress towards the start of a new dynasty, 2025’s result felt like two steps backward. The Oilers didn’t even get back to a Game 7, where they would have been the home team this time. They still haven’t won the division in 38 years. And of course, Stanley Cup number six still eludes the franchise.
This new year, Hockey Gods willing, will be the one where that all changes. This is the Oilers’ best shot of winning the division, with how middling its teams are currently. A third straight Cup Final has not only been done by both Florida and Tampa Bay, but by the Oilers themselves from 1983 to 1985. And with the extreme parity of the Eastern Conference this year, the Cup has its best shot of returning West.
Like Ted Lasso always said: Believe. Never lose faith that thy will be done, and the Cup be won. On to the rest of the season, and hopefully, to one massive party at the end that would top whatever Vancouver and Toronto are offering for the World Cup.
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