Dmitri Voronkov scored, and Elvis Merzlikins made 20 saves for the Blue Jackets (14-23-9), who went 0-for-4 on the power play and lost for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1).
“I thought we had a great start and for the first two periods, we were really carrying the play,” Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli said. “We’re a team that can really disrupt the flow of a game with our speed, and I thought that was kind of our plan — to come out and play fast and be disruptive. I thought it was kind of going our way, [but] we got away from it at the end there.
“They’re a great team. They’re going to push, but I think we started to get away from the things that were helping us be dynamic and helping us create those chances and capitalize on those opportunities.”
Foegele gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead on a power play at 7:30 of the first period, redirecting a feed from Kane for his 10th goal of the season.
“It starts off with ‘Stu’ keeping us in that game; that honestly could have been a 5-0 deficit after two periods,” Foegele said. “He was rock solid. He has been playing unbelievable. As a group coming into the third, we knew we needed to be better and I thought we were playing quicker, direct and you could see by the pace of play we were playing in the third.
“In this group, the big message is just being calm. We have great leaders in this room and guys who are just buying into that. It is one thing that has really helped us during this streak.”
Voronkov tied it 1-1 at 15:25 when he capitalized on a Sam Gagner turnover behind the Oilers net, passing it out front to Kent Johnson for a give-and-go that left Skinner diving across his crease.
McDavid thought he put Edmonton back in front at 8:16 of the second period when he beat Merzlikins five-hole from the left circle during a 4-on-3 power play, but the Blue Jackets successfully challenged that McDavid entered the zone offside.
But Kane gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead at 4:53 of the third on a rebound after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hit the post, and McDavid made it 3-1 just 55 seconds later at 5:48 after Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson pushed Oilers forward Zach Hyman into Merzlikins, knocking him to the ice. McDavid’s shot sailed over Merzlikins and into the net.