Oilers have 'serious work to do' under Babcock after season-opening OT loss
The Edmonton Oilers suffered a 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks, highlighting significant defensive struggles under new coach Mike Babcock. Despite a late offensive push, the team's inability to maintain structure led to defensive lapses throughout the game.
Why it matters
The performance raises questions about the effectiveness of the coaching transition and the team's defensive strategy for the new season.
Edmonton struggles again defensively, allowing six goals to Canucks
EDMONTON -- The Mike Babcock era did not get off to the start expected by the Edmonton Oilers.
Following a 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place on Tuesday, it seems that the job of getting Edmonton to play a more structured, defensive game might be more difficult than some anticipated.
“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.”
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