NHL: Edmonton Oilers at Minnesota Wild - Source: Imagn — Panthers edge Oilers 6-5 as Connor McDavid expresses disappointment in defense (Image Source: Imagn)

"We gotta be better": Connor McDavid makes his feelings known about Oilers' defensive woes in "disappointing" 11-goal thriller loss to Panthers

Modified Dec 17, 2024 10:30 GMT

On Monday, the Florida Panthers won 6-5 against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. Carter Verhaeghe played a big part, scoring the go-ahead goal in the third period and getting an assist. This was the first meeting between the teams since last season’s Stanley Cup Final, where the Panthers won in seven games.

Connor McDavid, who had three assists on the night, was left feeling disappointed with the Oilers' defensive play. In the postgame press conference, McDavid said:

"Yeah, disappointing, obviously. [It] felt like, as you said, we had it in control. Got to find a way to win that one.

"...Playing a team that was shut out twice in a row, you knew they were gonna be hungry offensively. Obviously they were, but we gotta be better there," he added.

Florida had been shut out in their previous two games but bounced back with this win. Niko Mikkola and Sam Reinhart each recorded a goal and an assist. Anton Lundell added two assists while Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves.

Zach Hyman scored twice for Edmonton, and Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist. McDavid assisted on three goals. Despite their efforts, Edmonton’s defense allowed Florida to rally after taking the lead at various points in the game.

The game began with Jesper Boqvist scoring a short-handed breakaway goal for Florida. Edmonton quickly tied the game with a goal from Hyman. The Panthers regained the lead with a power-play goal from Matthew Tkachuk, but Hyman responded with another goal for Edmonton.

Florida tied the game in the third period with goals from Mikkola and Reinhart. Kasperi Kapanen briefly tied it for Edmonton, but Verhaeghe scored the game-winning goal for Florida.

The game was exciting, but Edmonton’s defensive mistakes ultimately cost them the win.

"Obviously, we'd like to clean up the defensive side a little bit, but thought it was an entertaining game. Obviously, we'd [have] loved to find a way to win too, and put ourselves in a good spot to do that, and [we] didn't come through," McDavid added.

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McDavid and his teammates were disappointed but recognized the need to improve on defense.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch points out defensive mistakes

The Edmonton Oilers led 4-2 in the second period but made key mistakes. Defensive lapses and poor line changes let Florida take advantage. The Panthers scored four goals in the final 22 minutes.

"Just some really bad mistakes, whether it was the defense not getting the puck out or not being supported, line changes not where they should have been, just some costly mistakes that shouldn't happen." Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said.

"Well, sometimes when you get really good goaltending, you rely on that, and your details aren’t that good defensively…some of the things tonight," he added.

The Oilers will need to improve their defense to avoid similar mistakes when they host the Boston Bruins next on Thursday.