The Edmonton Oilers finally ran into a night they couldn’t erase.
On Thursday, they dropped a 4-2 decision to the Utah Mammoth, suffering their first regulation loss of the season and moving to 5-1-1. The Oilers got enough from their top group to stay in it, but the rest of the lineup never really matched that pace.
Utah struck first midway through the opening period. On a power play, John Marino sent former Oiler Kailer Yamamoto in alone for a breakaway, but Devon Levi turned that chance aside. Barrett Hayton was first to the rebound, and he finished the sequence to put the Mammoth ahead 1-0.
The second period brought more of the same on special teams. With about eight minutes left in the frame, Logan Cooley fed Clayton Keller with a slick between-the-legs pass, and Keller beat Levi to stretch the lead to 2-0.
The Oilers answered quickly. Less than two minutes later, Connor McDavid carried the puck through the zone entry, found Leon Draisaitl after getting past his defender, and Draisaitl hammered home his fifth goal of the season.
But the swing was brief. Just 23 seconds later, Vincent Trocheck beat Ty Emberson on the rush and sent it across to Cooley for a tap-in, restoring Utah’s two-goal cushion. Shakir Mukhamadullin was caught on the wrong side of that play.
Mukhamadullin got some redemption early in the third. After Edmonton spent a long shift in the offensive zone, his point shot deflected off a Mammoth player and past Karel Vejmelka to make it 3-2.
That was as close as Edmonton would get. With 27 seconds left, the Oilers couldn’t hold the puck in the zone, and Keller sealed it with an empty-net goal for the 4-2 final.
This game was the Oilers’ first real test of the young season, and the imbalance showed. The top line was the clear bright spot, driving play and scoring at even strength.
After that, the picture got murkier. Edmonton’s next most effective group was the third line, which posted 37.2 percent of the expected goal share even while being on the ice for the Oilers’ second goal.
The “second” line of Filip Hållander, Trent Frederic, and Kasperi Kapanen finished at 4.5 percent of the expected goal share, while the fourth line came in at zero percent.
The injury situation helps explain some of that, with the Oilers already missing five forwards. Still, if Edmonton is going to stay dangerous against better teams, that top unit probably can’t keep carrying this much of the load forever.
There were also lineup warning signs for the players fighting to hang on when the roster gets healthier. Josh Samanski took a double-minor that led to Utah’s opening goal, and he now has four penalties in six games. Isaac Howard may also be on the outside when everyone is available.
The penalties were a major problem for Edmonton all night. Utah got three power-play chances and scored on two of them in the first period. Given how the Oilers’ penalty killing struggled last season, that issue appears to have carried into 2026-27.
Levi didn’t bail them out with a standout performance, either. He allowed three goals on 23 shots for an .870 save percentage, and HockeyStats had him at minus-0.24 Goals Saved Above Expected. In other words, he wasn’t the reason Edmonton lost, but he also didn’t steal enough to cover for the rest of the team.
The two clubs meet again on Saturday in Salt Lake City, where the Oilers will try to even the home-and-home. Puck drop is set for 8:00 PM MT.
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Oilers Getting Healthier Again As Another Return Comes Into Focus
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There is still more help on the way, too, as the teams forward group could get even fuller during next weeks homestand. For a club trying to keep its lines stable and its blue line intact, those coming returns matter almost as much as the ones already announced, especially with Samanski back in the AHL after six games and the Oilers lining up another round of decisions on the forward side. [Read more 🡒]