Following a 2–0 win at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers turned their focus to Long Island. After a win over the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders awaited, hungry for their first win of the season. This type of game is usually considered a “trap game” for many teams, the Oilers included.
It turned out to be the case, as the Oilers were slow, lethargic and for the second straight game, just didn’t look like themselves. They managed to keep it even for 55 minutes, but eventually New York seized their first win of the season with some late heroics. It’s hard to say the Oilers deserved the win here. And once again, their own zone was as untidy as an LRT station.
Here’s the good and the bad. A fair bit of the latter, unfortunately.
Long commute, slow start to the workday
Thw Oilers used a mixture of New York City public transportation to get out to UBS Arena on this day. Reportedly, it did save them twenty minutes as opposed to riding a coach bus through traffic. But it also might have had an effect on the team’s rhythm.
The Oilers only generated two shots in over half of the first period to open things up. Worse yet, the defence was visibly lacking. Evan Bouchard had arguably his worst game in a long while, highlighted by an early turnover that the post stopped.
Stuart Skinner also had the team’s back early on, making a few really good saves. His only goal against in that first period was on a breakaway. No matter what you think, Mat Barzal puts this home 99 times out of 100. Don’t give up solo breakaways.
A quick response when trailing turns momentum
Fortunately, the Oilers, trailing for the first time all season, didn’t do so for long. One thing the team did well on this night was draw penalties, and lo and behold, it was youngsters Isaac “Ike” Howard and Matt Savoie drawing one not long after the Isles tally.
With the help of David Tomasek, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl went to work. This observer had McDavid scoring the first-period Oilers tally for this game; close enough. The passing on this play, either way, was superb.
Quick responses are a huge momentum killer, especially early on. The Oilers, after a lacklustre first period, needed it tonight. Their stars delivered.
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Late penalty kills said momentum
Through two and a half periods, the Oilers hung in there mostly well enough. In spite of defensive miscues, they had limited the damage to two breakaway goals, by Barzal and Bo Horvat. But they had also gotten the Draisaitl goal, and this beautiful Ryan Nugent-Hopkins snipe, to keep things even.
However, Edmonton gave the Islanders a golden chance with a Trent Frederic high-sticking minor late in Period 3. Horvat ensured the Islanders would not let the chance go to waste.
Horvat tacked on an empty-netter for the hat trick in the dying seconds of the game. Two breakaways, and an ill-timed penalty cost the Oilers on this night. Simply put, not a good enough defensive effort.
What’s next for the Oilers
A pair of matinee games await Edmonton on the weekend. They will be in New Jersey to play the Devils at 1:30 PM MT on Saturday, and in Detroit for a similar Sunday start time.
Afternoon games have been hit-or-miss for the Oilers in recent years. A couple of wins will keep momentum chugging along nicely. A couple of rough outings like in this game will be a major red flag.
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