There hasn’t been any doubt where the Edmonton Oilers’ season was going for some time, but Monday marked the night that they’ll know for sure that it’s safe to make vacation plans.
TSN 1260’s Matthew Iwanyk notes that tonight’s 5-2 defeat to the Detroit Red Wings means Edmonton has been mathematically eliminated from the 2015 playoffs, extending their postseason drought to nine season.
They’re now at risk of matching the Florida Panthers’ reign of error that spanned 10 bleak seasons:
Longest playoff drought in NHL history is 10 by the Panthers from 99/00 season to 11/12 season (Lockout in 04/05).
— Matthew Iwanyk - Матейко Іваник 🇺🇦 (@matthewiwanyk) March 10, 2015
This loss was another example of the Oilers squandering a lead (or snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, from a “tanking” standpoint?) as they were up 1-0 to Detroit.
This marks the fifth straight loss for Edmonton, a team that is 5-10-2 since February began. Edmonton is currently the second-worst team in the league, and while Buffalo sits four points “ahead” of them, both squads (not to mention the Arizona Coyotes) are doing a great job of doing a very bad job with a month-and-change to go.
Let’s not kid ourselves, though. It’s a lot more depressing to play this broken record in Edmonton.