Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch makes his feelings known about Evan Bouchard's faulty defense in 6-5 loss to Panthers

In the Edmonton Oilers' 6-5 loss to the Florida Panthers, Evan Bouchard struggled defensively. He had trouble managing the puck, which led to key turnovers. On Florida's first goal, Bouchard lost possession, allowing Jesper Boqvist to score on a short-handed breakaway.

Bouchard's defensive positioning was also off, as he failed to clear the puck or provide support on several occasions. His -2 rating and lack of impact in the defensive zone were noticeable.

After the game, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch spoke about Bouchard’s performance.

(0:29) “Definitely seen Evan play a lot better than that,” Knoblauch said.

He mentioned Bouchard’s fall, which led to the breakaway goal.

“We had some other guys that didn’t play their best either, so I’m not just putting this on Evan,” Knoblauch added.

He acknowledged Bouchard as one of the team’s best players and said they rely on him to perform well.

“Evan’s obviously one of our best players, and usually you got to count on those guys to win and lose games. If you're winning games, they're usually your best players, but you know, they can’t be our best players every night. So yeah, it was a tough night for Evan, but he doesn't have those very often,” Knoblauch continued.

Knoblauch also pointed out other mistakes during the game. He mentioned defensive lapses and poor line changes, which allowed Florida to score four goals in the last 22 minutes.

(0:06) “Just some really bad mistakes… just some costly mistakes that shouldn’t happen,” he said.

He also noted that sometimes good goaltending leads teams to overlook defensive details.

(1:17) "Well, sometimes when you get really good goaltending, you rely on that, and your details aren’t that good defensively…some of the things tonight," he added.

The Oilers will need to improve their defense for their next game against the Boston Bruins. Knoblauch made it clear that the team must avoid making similar mistakes moving forward.

Connor McDavid reflects on Oilers' defensive struggles in loss to Panthers

The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers on Monday at Rogers Place. Connor McDavid had three assists, but Edmonton’s defense allowed Florida to come back. McDavid said the team needs to improve defensively after the loss, but the game was still exciting.

"...Obviously, we'd like to clean up the defensive side a little bit, but thought it was an entertaining game. Obviously, we'd [have] loved to find a way to win too, and put ourselves in a good spot to do that, and [we] didn't come through," McDavid said.

Florida tied the game in the third period with goals from Niko Mikkola and Sam Reinhart. Verhaeghe's goal gave Florida the win.