Edmonton Oilers Dealt Brutal News Ahead of Maple Leafs Matchup

The Edmonton Oilers are in Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night and will be looking to right the ship as things have gone off the rails of late. Unfortunately they will be in tough to pull out the two points as the team announced they will be without defenseman Tyson Barrie and forwards Derek Ryan and Connor McDavid.

Connor McDavid, Tyson Barrie and Derek Ryan all are out for tonight (COVID Protocol)

— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) January 5, 2022

The Oilers recently lost to the New York Rangers on Monday night after goaltender Mikko Koskinen made a horrible blunder that costs his team a goal. There's been a battle brewing in the media between Koskinen and Oilers head coach Dave Tippett and both player and coach addressed this on Wednesday.  

Dave Tippett thinks his quote about Mikko Koskinen the other night was taken out of context. Points out he was asked by a reporter about the start of the game and adds that Koskinen made some good saves later on against #NYR

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 5, 2022

Koskinen had this to say after Tippett was critical of his performance against the Rangers:

It’s not nice being thrown under the bus. I have to be better but at the same time we scored 7 goals in my last 6 losses. I can’t score goals

The Oilers are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games and have now fallen out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference. The Maple Leafs appear to be almost 100% healthy for Wednesday's game so Edmonton will surely be in tough without their best player.

In some unfortunate news, Wednesday marks the return of Zach Hyman to Toronto but unfortunately with the current restrictions, he won't be receiving the ovation he deserves from the Maple Leafs faithful. Puck drops just after 7pm est.

Love hearing this from Mikko Koskinen ❤️

I think a lot of times as fans we often don’t realize what an athlete is going through mentally.

It can be tough to perform to your highest ability when mentally you’re just not there. pic.twitter.com/2FSqsSRxP9

— Woz (@itsWozzz) October 3, 2021

Photo credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports