Oilers drop 4th game in a row following 3-0 loss to Rangers

New York Rangers' Ryan Lindgren (55) and Edmonton Oilers' Connor Brown (28) battle for the puck during second period NHL action in Edmonton, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

EDMONTON -

Jonathan Quick has been too much for the Edmonton Oilers to handle throughout his career and that trend continued on Thursday.

Quick made 29 saves for his 59th career shutout as the New York Rangers continued to shine on their western road trip, defeating the Oilers 3-0.

The 37-year-old netminder improved to 25-11-6 all-time against Edmonton.

“Yeah, things like that always factor into it, and his career numbers versus Edmonton are really good and strong. And he’s coming off a pretty good performance as well,” said Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette. “It was a really good effort, a much better effort from start to finish. 

"A lot of guys played really well and goaltender Jonathan played really well. There were a lot of saves that he had to make in the second period that were really big, so it was a really great performance by him.”

Adam Fox and Braden Schneider each had a goal and an assist and Alexis Lafreniere also scored for the Rangers (5-2-0), who have won three games in a row.

“We’re trying to collect points,” said Quick. “It’s a tough road trip coming out west with the time change and all that, some great teams, some tough buildings, so 3-0, we’ll take that and try to build off that the rest of the way.

“We’re playing the right way.”

The Oilers, meanwhile, have lost four straight games and are off to a weak 1-5-1 start.

“It is not just one guy off to a poor start, it is collectively as a group,” said Oilers forward Zach Hyman. “We are an offensive team and we scored zero goals today. A lot of the blame has been on our d-zone or our defensive system, or our defence, but we didn’t score anything today. There is no finger-pointing. 

"Everybody in the room has to take a step and elevate their game like we know we can.”

There was no scoring in the first period with only a couple of quality chances.

Oilers forward Warren Foegele hit a post behind Quick four-and-a-half minutes into the opening frame. Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner was forced to come up big on a Rangers’ two-on-one break in the final minute, making a kick save on a shot by Filip Chytil.

The Rangers broke the deadlock on the power play 3:32 into the second period as Fox took a feed from Vincent Trochek and sent a knuckler of a slapshot on net that eluded Skinner for his second goal of the season.

New York added to its lead at 12:03 as Schneider managed to keep a back pass in at the blue line before unleashing a long shot that beat Skinner high to the stick side.

After hitting a pair of posts, the Rangers extended their lead with less than two minutes to play in the second period. 

Artemi Panarin picked up his second assist of the contest and pushed his scoring streak to seven games with a long pass to Lafreniere, who unleashed a one-timer before the Oilers goalie could get across. It was Lafreniere’s fourth goal of the season.

Quick kept his shutout intact with seven minutes to play, stopping Hyman with a glove save in tight.

Less than a minute later it looked like the Rangers had struck again, but a review determined that Will Cuylle had kicked the puck into the net.

“I think it was a tough game for our group, certainly we’re in the mud puddle right now and the only way out of it is to work your way out of it,” said Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. “I thought tonight it was like we were waiting for something bad to happen and in my experience the only way to come out of something like that is through working. 

"I thought in the third period we pushed back a little bit. It was too little, too late and it was not good enough for us tonight.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2023.