3 least impressive Edmonton Oilers players from 3-2 loss to New Jersey Devils feat. Ty Emberson 

The Edmonton Oilers have mostly experienced hard times since the return to the regular season after the Four Nations Face-Off tournament. They've gone 3-6 since the schedule resumed, and have missed multiple chances to overtake the Vegas Golden Knights for the lead in the Pacific Division.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils are comfortably in third place in the Metropolitan Division, a position that was further solidified with Thursday's 3-2 win over the Oilers at Prudential Center. New Jersey is now 36-25-6, while the Oilers are 37-24-4.

Neither team scored in the first period, though that was quickly changed in the game's middle frame. Brett Pesce scored for the Devils, giving them the 1-0 lead; the Oilers soon responded with the NHL-leading 47th goal of the season from Leon Draisaitl.

Both teams were deadlocked after 40 minutes of play, setting up a tense third period.

While the Oilers re-took the lead after Evan Bouchard scored his 13th goal at the 4:18 mark, the Devils quickly reclaimed the advantage after Jesper Bratt and Simon Nemec scored within two minutes of each other.

Despite a late-game push by the Oilers with goaltender Stuart Skinner on the bench for a sixth attacker, Edmonton proved unable to come up with the equalizer.

Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner was victimized three times on 21 shots, while New Jersey's Jake Allen made 31 saves in an impressive performance.

3 least impressive Edmonton Oilers players from 3-2 loss to New Jersey Devils

#1. Ty Emberson

The Oilers defenseman had a particularly rough night on the defensive front, finding himself out of position on all three of New Jersey's goals and finishing with a team-worst -3 rating. Even more concerning was the fact that he barely played over 11 minutes, the least amount of ice time of any Oilers defenseman.

He also contributed no points.

#2. Stuart Skinner

While Skinner wasn't awful against the Devils, he still failed to come up with the saves that he needed to when New Jersey pressed.

The biggest question mark for the Oilers remains the state of their goaltending, and GM Stan Bowman took a calculated risk by not making an upgrade in the crease at last week's NHL Trade Deadline.

#3. Vasily Podkolzin

Mostly known for his defensive play rather than offensive contributions, Podkolzin finished tied for a team-worst -2 rating for forwards as part of the loss against the Devils.

He barely played over 12 minutes, and was on the ice for a pair of goals against – not an impressive outing.

The Edmonton Oilers will look to return to winning ways when they face the New York Islanders next at UBS Arena on Friday.