The date November 8 has added meaning to the Edmonton Oilers organization. On November 8, 1985, the Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks 13-0 in their most lopsided win in the history of the franchise. Then on November 8, 2025, the Oilers were completely inept in every facet of the game, and were clobbered by the Colorado Avalanche in a 9-1 defeat. This tied the biggest home loss in the history of the Edmonton Oilers organization in the National Hockey League. It was also the biggest road victory for the Colorado Avalanche since they moved from Quebec City in 1995. Off the record, I was in attendance in both of the Oilers games–as an eight-year-old, and as a 48-year-old!
What was the other Oilers game where they lost by eight goals at home?
The Oilers lost 10-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on January 27, 2009. The biggest Oilers loss in franchise history came on February 12, 2004. They were clobbered 11-0 to the Hartford Whalers.
What was the previous biggest Avalanche road victory?
The Avalanche’s previous record for their biggest road victory was seven goals. They beat the Vancouver Canucks 9-2 on March 8,. 2004. The biggest Avalanche win ever came on December 5, 1995. That is when they defeated the San Jose Sharks 12-2.
Inside look at the dominant Colorado win on Saturday
Nathan MacKinnon of Halifax, Nova Scotia led the Avalanche in scoring with four points as he had two goals and two assists for four points. MacKinnon leads the NHL so far this season in goals (12), points (24), and shots on goal (67). MacKinnon is a shooting machine. He has led the NHL in shots on goal in five of the last eight seasons.
A lot of work for Stan Bowman to do
This game was considered as a benchmark game for the Oilers season. They were trying to figure out how this new group would do against an Avalanche franchise that is the best in the NHL. Their grade was a F-. The Avalanche had better goaltending from Scott Wedgewood, confidence shorthanded as Parker Kelly scored on the breakaway with captain Gabriel Landeskog in the penalty box, and Cale Makar simply proved to the hockey world why he is the best defenseman in the world, and worth significantly more to Colorado than the horrible defense the Oilers are showing on a regular basis. Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse should be making $1.5 million and $950,000 respectively rather than $10.5 million and $9.5 million respectively. There were too many times on Saturday night that Nurse was a spectator on the ice, and simply not engaged in the play. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman has a lot of work to do to make the Oilers competitive. It will be interesting to see when a blockbuster transaction takes place.
