Edmonton Oilers head coach Mike Babcock believes Tuesday’s opening-night loss to the Vancouver Canucks showed his team has “serious work to do.”
The Oilers suffered a 6-5 overtime defeat to the Canucks, grabbing a point after trailing 5-2, having allowed three goals in the span of just four minutes early in the third period.
“I didn’t think for one second it was going to be easy,” Babcock said. “Tonight was an indication that we have serious work to do, and so we’re just going to have a look at it tomorrow and show the players and clear it up.
“But playing like that - we started fine - but playing like that and getting away from what we’re supposed to do is unacceptable for us, so we have to set a better standard for ourselves.”
Edmonton outshot the Canucks 37-23 on the night and outhit their opponents 38-13.
Oilers netminder Tristan Jarry struggled as the team committed multiple defensive lapses in front of him, and took share of the blame after the loss.
“I think for myself I have to be better in those aspects, too,” Jarry said. “Just talking about my game, I need one or two of those. I think that’s the game changer there and that puts us in a better place.”
Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard had a dream opener offensively with a hat trick and five points, but he lamented the struggles in Edmonton’s own end.
“You can tell it was our first regular-season game,” Bouchard said. “We have to be a lot more detailed than that. Giving up odd-man rushes, giving up five or six (goals), isn’t going to cut it.”
“I think it’s just about buying in, kind of less thinking,” Babcock said of what needs to change. “Obviously, it is new and you’re going to have some hiccups, but there’s little things that aren’t the system’s fault. Whether it was a bad pinch where you’re giving up odd-man rushes like we did tonight, it’s not going to go well.”
Edmonton will have a chance a redemption as the team plays the Canucks on the road Thursday, then return home to host the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
