Breadcrumb Trail Links
Published Dec 16, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute read
Florida Panthers’ Nick Cousins (21) and Edmonton Oilers’ Mattias Ekholm (14) battle for the puck during first period NHL action in Edmonton on Saturday December 16, 2023. Photo by JASON FRANSON /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Things can turn quickly in today’s NHL.
One minute you’re surfing the warm, sweet waves of momentum, the sun on your face and the wind at your back, and the next minute you’re face down in the sand, pulling shark teeth out of your backside.
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The Edmonton Oilers, whose whole season has been one long mood swing, proved it again Saturday night.
It seemed like only a couple of days ago the Oilers were leading 3-2 in the third period against Tampa Bay, just minutes away from tying a franchise-record nine-game win streak.
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Four periods later they are checking their cheeks for bite marks. Tampa outscored them 5-1 in the third period to win 7-4 and Florida beat them 5-1 on Saturday.
“I don’t think we defended well enough,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “I don’t think there was enough urgency to protect the slots. We made some mistakes — and they forced us into doing that, and that’s part of hockey — but I just didn’t like how we reacted to those.
“We knew we were going to play a hungry, determined team tonight, losing their previous two and being shut out. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. (The Panthers) were certainly ready to play.”
The Oilers weren’t. And, just like that, the eight-game win streak is now a two-game losing streak. And the wild-card playoff spot they could have moved into with a win on Thursday is now five points away.
It happens fast.
“We’ve gotten back on track the last couple of weeks, but we have to be ready to play all the time,” said defenceman Brett Kulak. “They hadn’t been playing good coming into this one so they were hungry around the net and we didn’t have our A game.
“We weren’t happy the way we came out, not good right from the start.”
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While the Oilers played very well against Tampa, pumping them for 57 shots, this one went sideways in short order. They fell behind 1-0 at 5:33, which wouldn’t have been terrible, but before Edmonton could get out of the first period they surrendered two more goals at 18:58 and 19:27 and the manageable deficit was suddenly six feet deep.
“We were soft in our own end,” said winger Evander Kane. “I don’t know where it came from, hopefully it’s a one-off. We can be better in that area and clean that up.”
A brief comeback attempt (Hyman cut it to 3-1 at 8:08 of the second period) sunk back into the grave when Kulak accidentally chopped Florida’s Evan Rodrigues in the mouth with his stick, resulting in a four-minute penalty and power play goal against. Now, Kulak’s stick doesn’t come up if he isn’t held and spun by Aleksander Barkov (who received a minor), but those are the breaks.
Knoblauch started Calvin Pickard in net, a reasonable decision given that he was excellent in his last outing and Stuart Skinner wasn’t. And while Edmonton didn’t lose because of Pickard, they did lose the goaltending battle for the second game in a row, with Sergei Bobrovsky picking up where Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy left off — robbing the Oilers of more than enough chances to change the outcome.
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“Pick had absolutely no chance on those,” said Knoblauch. “Guys coming right down the slot, guys crowding him… I don’t put any blame on him in the first period. We’re down 3-0, no issues with him on those plays.”
Ultimately, Florida’s best players were better than Edmonton’s best players. Carter Verhage scored twice while Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennet added singles in the rout.
“In the Tampa game we set a record number of shots,” said Hyman. “That was more of a winnable game for us, but we didn’t deserve to win this one. We didn’t show our best and didn’t play to our standard.”
THIS ’N THAT: With the score 5-1 in the third, there was at least some entertainment and drama when Sam Gagner was awarded a penalty shot, but Bobrovsky made the save. … The Oilers are now on the New York road trip for three games in four nights against the Islanders, Devils and Rangers.
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