Oilers Meltdown In 6-4 Loss

A third-period collapse by the Edmonton Oilers gifted the Winnipeg Jets with a 6-4 win on Tuesday night. The Oilers lead for the majority of the game by a margin of 3-2 but three unanswered goals by the Jets in the third period was all she wrote.

The Oilers fall to 3-5-0 on the season and fail to win consecutive games for the third time this season. They will hope to figure things out as they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

It was a good game until it wasn’t for the Oilers. I got all game recap right here for your reading pleasure...

First Period:

It didn’t take long for the goals to start coming in this one. The Oilers started it off with an early powerplay marker by Leon Draisaitl to give Edmonton the first lead of the game a mere 1:48 into the frame.

The Jets, however, would respond with a powerplay goal of their own a few minutes later as Andrew Copp poked in a garbage goal after some chaos in front of the net. Less than a full six minutes in and we were at a 1-1 deadlock.

That wouldn’t last too long as some fantastic work by Patrick Russell in the corner worked the puck to a wide-open Adam Larsson on the point, who was able to thread the needle and get the Oilers up by a score of 2-1.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would extend the lead later on, with Edmonton’s second PP goal of the game, with a laser from the top of the left circle. 3-1 Oil.

Connor Hellebuyck was struggling in this one, allowing three goals on six shots against, but that wasn’t deterring the Jets. Matthew Perreault cut into Edmonton’s lead after letting a one-timer go from the slot that beat Koskinen glove side. This one came directly after the Oilers killed off a penalty. 3-2 game.

Winnipeg had a chance to tie the game in the final few minutes of the period with a power-play but the Oilers were able to stave them off. Edmonton took the one-goal lead into the second.

Second Period:

It seemed as though both teams had used up all their goals in the first period. The two had a back-and-forth battle in the middle frame but neither were able to get on the board. The closest we got was a post from Mark Schiefele and a trio of unsuccessful breakaway chances by Zack Kassian.

The Jets held a slight edge in pressure throughout the period, however. They had the Oilers running around their zone a few times and were the better team. Mikko Koskinen made the saves he needed and the Oilers were 20 minutes away from a .500 record.

Third Period:

It didn’t take long for the goals to return...for one team. Nikolaj Ehlers tied the game on a nice cross-crease pass by Paul Stastny a mere three minutes in. Stastny got one of his own a few minutes later to give the Jets a 4-3 lead. Then, to make things even worse, Adam Lowry scored a minute later to give Winnipeg insurance.

The Oilers went from a 3-2 lead to a 5-3 deficit in less than eight minutes. Connor McDavid would give the Oilers life with a late marker to make it 5-4 but it wouldn’t be enough as Copp would put this game out of reach with an empty-netter.

Jets win, Oilers collapse, in 6-4 Winnipeg win.

Takeaways:

• You get what you put out for Dave Tippett. He opted to keep Larsson and Russell in the roster at the expense of Koekkoek and Bouchard and you got a predictable result. The team collapsed in the third period and weren’t able to handle Winnipeg’s high-powered forecheck. Time for the head coach to wake up and play the best players available to him.
• Edmonton didn’t get much help from their bottom six tonight either. Jujhar Khaira looked flat as usual and Turris’ line had trouble getting the puck out of their own end. I’d say the only player worthwhile here was Zack Kassian who had a few chances.
• On the bright-side, it looked like the Oilers were able to slay some of their power-play demons tonight. They were 2 for 2 on the PP and looked solid with the man advantage. Their problem tonight was on the PK as they allowed two goals against.
• The Oilers NEED to play a full 60-minute game. It's a cliche that has been said to death but that's because it is crucial if you want to be a winning team. The Oilers got all their goals in the first period and went quiet. They allowed the Jets to dictate 40 minutes of the game and that is not a winning combination.
• Tippett has to start taking accountability for the things he says. I can count more than a few players that could use some time in the press-box....none are rookies.
• We saw Mikko Koskinen crack a little bit as well. This was one of his poorer performances of the season and he let in a few that he should have had. The defence in front of him didn’t make matters easier but, as a starting goalie, you gotta be able to bail them out every once in a while. He didn’t do so tonight.
• The Oilers fail to get the sweep on the Jets and their record falls to 3-5-0. It isn’t the end of the world but the way they completely collapsed in the third period should be ringing some alarm bells. No time to dwell on this loss, as they will open up a two-game series with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.