EDMONTON — Mike Babcock was not about to let a comeback soften his assessment of the Edmonton Oilers.
They had erased a three-goal deficit, forced overtime and rescued a point from their season opener against the Vancouver Canucks. Their coach’s attention remained on the decisions that had put them in that position.
Asked about goaltender Tristan Jarry’s performance following Tuesday’s 6–5 loss, Babcock acknowledged that Edmonton needed more in net. Then he put the responsibility back on the group.
“Our part is to play way better. That was ridiculous.”
Later, a reporter offered him a possible explanation: the Oilers were missing key players.
“No, we weren’t.”
Two answers, one standard. Babcock was giving the players who dressed responsibility for how the team performed.
His criticism was specific. Edmonton turned pucks over, stayed on the ice too long and made poor decisions after a promising start. The Oilers recovered on the scoreboard, but Babcock saw a team that had moved away from its assignments and continued to concede chances in overtime.
There were individual performances worth recognizing. Evan Bouchard scored a hat trick, and Vasily Podkolzin scored twice as Edmonton fought its way back. Paul Cotter’s overtime winner nevertheless left Vancouver with the victory.
Babcock praised Bouchard’s offensive ability during his postgame availability. He also made clear that individual production could not compensate for the way the team played collectively.
His response about missing players needs that same context. Later in the interview, he acknowledged that some Oilers were operating in different roles than they should be. His point was about the standard expected of the available lineup: those circumstances did not excuse the performance.
The next step, he said, was to review the mistakes with the players and correct them. He had not expected establishing the team’s structure to be easy, and opening night showed how much work remained.
One game cannot establish how the Oilers will respond over a season. It did give them an early indication of what their coach will accept.
Edmonton’s comeback earned a point. It did not earn a pass from Babcock.
Watch Babcock’s full September 29 postgame interview · Read the complete Canucks–Oilers game recap
