Oilers Tapped Dry In 5-1 Loss

Womp Womp.

The Edmonton Oilers got shellacked by the Montreal Canadiens by a 5-1 margin on Saturday night. Tomas Tatar and Jeff Petry led the Canadiens with two goals apiece while Slater Koekkoek got the lone marker for the Oilers.

Edmonton’s record falls to 1-2-0 with the loss while Montreal celebrates their first win of the season after losing to Toronto on Wednesday. The two teams will meet back at Rogers Place on Monday to close out their two-game series.

First Period:

This one started off on a positive note for the Oilers. They controlled the early pace and had the first real chance of the game. Dominik Kahun actually potted a goal but within the first two minutes but it was called back on a fairly obvious goaltender interference incident as Draisaitl was checked into Carey Price. This seemed to be the tipping point for the Canadiens because the game shifted quickly to their advantage.

They were able to spring a few breakaways with Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson but Mikko Koskinen was able to stand tall. Caleb Jones would take an interference call to give the Canadiens the first power-play of the game. They would capitalize on that opportunity as. former Oiler, Jeff Petry would glove the puck across the crease to himself where he would have a wide-open net to open the scoring. 1-0 MTL less than seven minutes in.

The rest of the period would be tilted toward Edmonton’s defensive zone. Suzuki, Anderson and Drouin would wreak havoc in the Oilers’ end leaving a tired defensive group. Luckily for the Oilers, it would only be a few posts and close calls for Koskinen that would come to fruition for the Canadiens.

Connor McDavid had the best chance of the period for the Oilers as he was unable to convert on a breakaway chance. Things needed to change and they had to change quickly for Edmonton if they wanted to claw themselves back into this one. At the end of 20 it was 1-0 for the Canadiens.

Second Period:

If the Oilers were lucky to get out of the first period only down by one, they weren’t lucky at the end of the second. The team started the middle frame on the powerplay with a real chance to tie things up but Leon Draisaitl would be denied a few times and they wouldn’t convert.

Things quickly fell apart for Edmonton soon after as Tatar wired a one-timer over Koskinen’s glove to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead. Edmonton would give a little push-back after the goal but that would be quickly negated as a sideboard shot from Petry bounced off Ethan Bear and into the night. His second made it a 3-0 lead.

Things seemed to tilt back in Edmonton’s favour as Lehkonen was sent to the box on a delay of game call. Nugent-Hopkins would nearly get Edmonton on the board but would miss the net. The play continued and a Montreal 2-on-1 would lead to Jake Evans getting the shorthanded marker. In a span of 10 minutes, the Canadiens saw their lead grow from 1-0 to 4-0.

Edmonton would play a bit better later in the period but couldn’t solve a red-hot Price. It was too little too late anyway as the Oilers were in a DEEP 4-0 hole going into the final frame.

Third Period:

Not much going on in the final period. Tomas Tatar got his second of the game on a breakaway chance to extend Montreal’s lead to 5-0.

Slater Koekkeok got Edmonton’s lone goal with a sharp angle shot.

Game over as the Oilers drop an ugly 5-1 decision and fall to 1-2-0.

Takeaways:

• Oilers got a taste of what their goaltending problems could look like over the course of the season. Koskinen let in five goals tonight and while his defence didn’t give him much help, it is concerning that they didn’t have a viable backup to put into the game. I am by no means pinning the loss on Koskinen but you hope he can stop a few of those.
• I am definitely pinning this loss on Edmonton’s defensive play though. The team was a complete mess in their own end allowing Montreal to run around in the offensive end. The team put in no effort and got no results in their own end. This has to be the top priority for Dave Tippett moving forward.
• The only two players that gave enough effort in tonight's game were Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi. Yamamoto was constantly forechecking and working hard to get the puck while his linemates gave him next to no support. Puljujarvi did the best that he could with his linemates and looked good down low.
• Speaking of Puljujarvi, we got an opportunity to see him with McDavid and RNH in the third period. The trio played a few shifts together and was split up when they didn’t immediately yield results. Typical.
• Koekkoek showed well again tonight I think. He has been the club’s best defender through three games and I’m glad he got rewarded with a goal.
• Adam Larsson was not great again. Doesn’t bode well for him in a contract year.

Give me your thoughts on tonight’s less than ideal result...