Blues lose to Oilers, 5-0

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jan 18, 2026

Published in Hockey

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The chase will be delayed again.

In their fifth attempt to win a third straight game, the St. Louis Blues once again failed during a 5-0 loss to the Oilers on Sunday night in Edmonton. It was the first time since opening night that the Blues were shut out.

Jordan Binnington allowed five goals as he lost his third start in a row, and he's won just one time in his last eight starts.

The Blues entered the trip riding high after wins over Carolina and Tampa Bay, but remain one of two teams in the NHL without a three-game win streak (the other is Edmonton, in fact).

Zach Hyman scored twice for the Oilers, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Andrew Mangiapane and Vasily Podkolzin also scored for Edmonton. Connor Ingram made 27 saves to post his first shutout in almost two years (March 8, 2024).

The Blues visit Winnipeg on Tuesday for the first time since losing Game 7 of the first round last year.

Falling behind

The Oilers took a 3-0 lead in the first period, and it was the man of the night that gave them the only lead Edmonton would need on Sunday. Nugent-Hopkins was playing in his 1,000th career NHL game and was honored pregame by the Oilers, who he's spent his entire career with.

Nugent-Hopkins is second all-time in Oilers history in games played for the franchise (behind Kevin Lowe), and scored 5:55 into the game. Former Blues defenseman Jake Walman dropped a pass between his legs to Evan Bouchard, who spotted Nugent-Hopkins in the slot for his 12th goal of the season.

Mangiapane made it 2-0 Oilers at 11:52 of the second period when Curtis Lazar's shot on Binnington created a juicy rebound at the net-front. Mangiapane beat Cam Fowler to the loose puck to give Edmonton a multi-goal lead.

It could have gotten much worse for the Blues thanks to a pair of penalties (Nathan Walker for hooking, Tyler Tucker for slashing) that gave the Oilers 56 seconds of a two-man advantage. But Edmonton was unable to do anything with it, and it could have been a turning point as the Blues survived the No. 1 power play in the league.

But Hyman made it 3-0 with 1:17 left in the first period by deflecting Mattias Ekholm's point shot past Binnington.

On the highlight reel

Oilers superstar Connor McDavid regularly amazes with his rare combination of skill and speed, and he added another clip to his impressive tape with a spinning assist to Podkolzin in the third period that made it a 5-0 game.

McDavid picked up the puck at his own blue line, sped through the neutral zone and chipped the puck behind Tyler Tucker. As McDavid tried to go around Tucker, he was knocked to the ice, but he still was able to reach for the puck and spin a pass as he stood up to the front of the net. Podkolzin handled the business end.

It was McDavid's second assist of the game and his league-leading 55th assist of the season. The top-three Blues players in assists (Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Cam Fowler) combine for 54 assists total.

Sundqvist hurt

Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist left the game with 12:02 left in the third period due to an apparent injury to his left leg after he got tangled up with McDavid. Sundqvist was helped off the ice in a hurry by Nathan Walker, Colton Parayko and head trainer Ray Barile before he limped down the tunnel.

Sundqvist fell into the boards just as McDavid tried to step over him as the two players were intertwined. Sundqvist and Parayko appeared to look at Sundqvist's left ankle before motioning for help from the Blues bench.

Holloway back

Blues forward Dylan Holloway made his return to the lineup from a right high-ankle sprain that cost him 15 games and about five weeks of game action. Holloway skated on a line with Dalibor Dvorsky and Jordan Kyrou, and was on the second power-play unit.

The Blues did not have to make a corresponding move when they activated Holloway from IR since the active roster was at 22 when the Blues placed Robert Thomas on IR last week.

Thomas (lower-body), Mathieu Joseph (elbow infection) and Pius Suter (right ankle) are the only Blues left on IR.

With Holloway back in the fold, Jonatan Berggren was a healthy scratch along with Robby Fabbri and Matthew Kessel.

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