:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58272727/903141218.jpg.0.jpg)
The Predators would get two goals in the first period, it would be all they would need to secure two points against the Oilers. The Oilers can’t get no satisfaction right now, only a single tally from Connor McDavid would find its way behind Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne.
FIRST PERIOD
Nashville would open the scoring midway through the first period. Milan Lucic would take two minutes for interference on Kyle Turris.
You know that the home penalty kill is epically terrible, but have you heard about the road penalty kill? It’s much, much be-
Yeah, it took about seven seconds after the puck was dropped after Lucic’s penalty for the Predators to put a notch in their belt on a perfectly executed power play. Craig Smith was there for the rebound, and the Predators earned a 1-0 lead. Sweet, what else do you got?
If you had Adam Larsson getting hit in the face by a puck, only for the puck to fall at the skates of Viktor Arvidsson, hey, you’d be 2 for 2.
SECOND PERIOD
The Oilers weren’t done, at least, not yet. Which is good, because having Nashville suck the life out of you for three periods is a terrible way to waste a good Tuesday.
The Predators had a 2-0 lead on the Oilers at the end of one period. Connor McDavid breathed a little life into the Oilers very early on in the second.
We’ve gotten used to when 97 just turns on the rockets. He picks up the puck at the blue line and beats Mattias Ekholm wide. No one is quicker than McDavid in this league, and he sends a blur behind Pekka Rinne to cut Nashville’s lead in half.
And that’s it. That’s the end. Oh, there were 39 more minutes of hockey in this one, but that’s all the scorin’ that would happen. The Predators would sit on the lead for nearly two periods, but the Oilers couldn’t squeeze one more goal out of Nashville.
The Oilers are now a full five games away from a Bettman .500. They’ve got very little going for them right now. After a fun four game win streak, they’ve managed to lose seven of their last eight games. They’ve score just five goals in their last eighteen periods of play.
The Oilers will roll into Arizona on Friday looking for their first two points on this road trip. After Arizona, they’ve got Vegas over the weekend. Then? The bye week. The Oilers have to cobble some points together on these last two games, else the silence over the week without hockey will be deafening.