Well, the Edmonton Oilers went out with a bang, that’s for sure.
Too bad they were on the wrong end of the gunshots.
In a hard-fought, high-octane game against another Stanley Cup contender, Edmonton’s official cause of death was acute blood loss from continually shooting themselves in the foot.
They played well enough to beat the Colorado Avalanche Friday night at Rogers Place, but served up just enough soft goals and costly giveaways to lose 5-4.
It was a well-earned smack in the mouth.
“We weren’t sharp enough defensively, obviously,” said Leon Draisaitl, whose two-goal night was spoiled by the team’s overall lack of attention to detail. “We were preparing the same way and looking to play a tight game, that’s our identity, but obviously we didn’t do that today. Too much offence was given. It was not a great loss for us.”
No it wasn’t. It’s one thing to not have your best stuff and grind out a 3-2 game. It’s quite another to simply give the other team all of the offence it needs.
“Probably the most dangerous team off the rush, and we kept feeding that transition,” said Zach Hyman, whose third-period turnover led to the game-winning goal. “Nobody wants to go out there and make mistakes. You’re trying to make a play. At the same time, you’ve got to recognize what time it is in the game, who you’re out there against, and how the game’s going.”
The game had a little bit of everything, and a lot of it was bad from an Oilers perspective. Nathan MacKinnon had four points. Cale Makar had three. Stuart Skinner got the hook. Evan Bouchard got benched. Corey Perry scored two times and Leon Draisaitl hit the 40 mark for the sixth time in seven years. And on a night when the goals were coming fast and furious, Connor McDavid was pointless and minus three.
It was a thriller. But a Hyman turnover in the third period set up the winning goal from Martin Necas with 4:22 left in regulation and that was that.
“I take responsibility for the last one,” he said. “I try to force it in. They make a play. Probably not the right time to do that against that line. They go and capitalize, and we lose the game.”
They had their guy
With two goals, Draisaitl is not only the runaway goal-scoring leader in the league, but he became the 26th player in NHL history to reach six 40-goal seasons and is one of only four active players to do so, joining Auston Matthew, Steven Stamkos and Alex Ovechkin.
The only time he missed the 40-goal mark in the last seven years was the 2020-21 COVID season when he scored 31 in 56.
“He’s one of the best in the world for a reason,” said Perry. “And he shows it every night.”
Perry, meanwhile, has been as good as Edmonton can ask for this year. Aside from all of his intangibles and gamesmanship, he has five goals in the last nine games and 12 on the season, which makes the 39-year-old veteran the fifth-leading scorer on the team.
The goals give him 441 for his career, moving him past Rick Tocchet and into a tie for 72 with Rick Valve and Steve Larmer on the NHL’s all-time list.
But the good couldn’t outscore the bad.
Short night for Skinner
Nathan MacKinnon had a banner night, picking up a goal and three assists on the night to lead Colorado’s charge. Skinner whiffed badly on the first two Avalanche goals (on six shots) but didn’t have a chance on the third.
Nevertheless, Skinner got the hook during the first intermission (three goals on 12 shots) and Calvin Pickard went the rest of the way in goal.
That’s the book on Skinner — really good a lot of the time, but can mix in a stinker at just the wrong time. This was that time. He’s also a notoriously slow starter, posting an .879 save percentage in the first period this season.
“The first two, I felt he could have had,” said Knoblauch. “I don’t think he found those or was looking for them right. And Picks has been winning us a lot of games. We needed a little boost for our team and he has a pretty good record of late, and we felt that he could come in and do the job.”
SERIOUSLY, BOUCHARD?
The book on Evan Bouchard is that he’s a good offensive player (sixth in the league in points among defencemen), but he can’t seem to get the lazy, careless and costly mistakes out of his game.
It was an all-timer in the second period when he dropped a blind backhand pass in the neutral zone right on the tape of Parker Kelly, who was sitting there waiting on the telegraphed play. It set up a three-on-one and a shorthanded goal to put the Avalanche ahead 4-2.
Knoblauch limited his ice time in the second period but this is an ongoing issue that needs to be tightened up. In a short playoff series when goals are at a premium, soft goals and weak turnover are the kind of stuff that gets your team eliminated.
“It’s happened to everybody,” Perry said of Knoblauch pulling Skinner and sitting Bouchard for a few shifts. “You use it as motivation, do the right things, put it behind you and move forward. It’s only going to make you better.”
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