The Edmonton Oilers finally suffered a regulation loss on Thursday night.
It was the Utah Mammoth who marched into Rogers Place and defeated the Oilers by a score of 4-2, handing Edmonton its first regulation loss of the season. For the first time this season, the Oilers couldn’t seem to overcome their laundry list of injuries, struggling to generate offence against a much deeper Utah squad.
The five-on-five play skewed heavily toward the Mammoth, but so did the special teams battle, where Utah notched two goals, while the Oilers’ power play sputtered without a marker of their own.
Edmonton’s reliance on their big guns was noticeable as well, with McDavid logging just under 26 minutes, while Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin lagged behind with 23 and 22 minutes, respectively.
That puts the Oilers captain’s average time-on-ice this season at a career-high 23:53, something that head coach Mike Babcock is not keen on continuing.
“I’m real lucky that the way the games have been spaced out, that we’ve been able to do that a little bit, but that’s not the NHL. It’s impossible,” Babcock said of the high ice time for his star forwards. “We’ll give them a day off [on Friday], those guys, and get back at it for the next game, but it has to stop.
“I look at it every night, and I go, ‘What the heck am I doing?’ but I’m also trying to survive right now.”
"I thought we competed & put in a good effort."
Coach Babcock speaks as the #Oilers drop a 4-2 decision to the Mammoth.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/MIdWAMZ9SG
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 16, 2026
Injuries have forced Babcock’s hand in giving high ice time to his superstars. Edmonton is effectively missing their entire second line with all of Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Matt Savoie out. Things got even worse on Thursday, as Jason Dickinson was out of the lineup with another issue, and Colton Dach has missed the past four games.
The veteran coach has avoided pointing to injuries as an excuse for poor play, instead characterizing it as an opportunity for players down the lineup. However, it’s clear that the lack of secondary scoring is at least a factor in the high ice time for McDavid and co.
“As we get deeper, we’re going to get more production from people, but that’s just not our situation right now,” Babcock said. “The good thing for us is we’re getting to see everyone in the organization, and we’re seeing who can play and who can’t, and they’re getting a great opportunity to show that.
“[Utah has] a deep team and we’re going to have a deep team too, but right now, we’re not as deep.”
Make that 18 (!!!) points for Connor McDavid 🥵
📺: Mammoth vs. Oilers LIVE on SN1
📲: Stream on Sportsnet+ pic.twitter.com/JvpmfO5oFD— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 16, 2026
This is the first time that ice time has truly been a concern for the Oilers. While the top line has been racking up the ice time quite a bit to start the season, they’ve earned every bit of it. Through seven games, McDavid, Draisaitl, and Podkolzin have combined for a ridiculous 39 points.
Things seemed to dry up a tad on Tuesday, however, as McDavid and Draisaitl combined for just a single goal.
“We expect to win every night, no matter who is in the lineup. That’s just the way it is,” McDavid told reporters after the loss. “We’re missing a lot of guys, but as I said, we expect to win every night… I thought our guys did a good job digging in tonight.”
"I liked a lot about this game. I like that everyone competed & dug in. It was a hard, tight checking game… We get another crack at them on Saturday."
Connor McDavid weighs in on the #Oilers effort tonight against Utah. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/xSX1gOCHNm
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 16, 2026
The good news is that relief appears to be on the way for Edmonton. Hyman has been classified as being “very close” to returning, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is skating with the team, although no timeline has been revealed for his potential return.
Matt Savoie was described as being “eight weeks away” just over two weeks ago, meaning the team might have to battle along without the 22-year-old for a while longer.
The Oilers have done a good job of racking up the victories despite being shorthanded, but they’ll have to get more from their depth forwards if they want the good times to continue.