Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid stand up for Oilers goalies receiving flak after leaking 8 goals in dreadful loss to Stars

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl stood up for the goalies after the Edmonton Oilers' dreadful 8-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

The entire Oilers' defensive corps had a nightmare evening at home except for the third pairing. Evan Bouchard scored, but he and Mattias Ekholm were shaky, while Darnell Nurse and Alex Regula also struggled badly.

Stuart Skinner surrendered four goals on just eight shots before being pulled; Calvin Pickard then allowed four goals on 22 shots. After the game, Draisaitl pushed back against criticism of the goalies, saying:

"What are they supposed to do. They're part of the team too, and I'm sure they would tell you themselves that they can be better at times. There's not much they can do. We're giving up grade A look after grade A look. You can't expect a goalie to stop every single one of them and win the game 3-1, it doesn't work like that. We just have to be so much better for them."

Connor McDavid echoed that sentiment, noting it is tough for any goalie to look good when the players in front of him fail to meet their standards.

"Tough for goalies to look good when the group in front of them is not playing well. I don't really care who it is, when the team in front of them is not playing up to their standards, then tough for a goalie to look good. Felt bad for both of them tonight," Connor McDavid said post-game.

The Edmonton Oilers are sixth in the Pacific Division with a 10-10-5 record. Their next game is against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.

Connor McDavid and Oilers fall to Stars at home

Jamie Benn opened the scoring for the Stars after putting them ahead 1-0 at 3:48 of the first period. Roope Hintz increased the lead to 2-0 after scoring on the power play at 10:51.

Nathan Bastian made it 3-0 for the Stars at 15:24 before Sam Steel's goal put the team ahead 4-0 before heading into the second period. Connor Clattenburg scored for the Oilers to cut the deficit to 4-1 at 4:39 of the second period.

The Stars then capitalized on the two power play chances, with Jason Robertson's and Wyatt Johnson's goals putting them ahead 6-1 before heading into the final period.

Evan Bouchard scored at 1:23 of the third period, making it 6-2 for the Oilers. At 8:21, Justin Hryckowian increased Dallas' lead to 7-2. Jack Roslovic's goal made it 7-3 for the Oilers at 9:31. With less than five minutes remaining in the game, Nathan Bastian scored the winner for Dallas.