A stingy defence, turnovers and a number of missed opportunities were key ingredients to the Oilers' first overtime loss of the season, falling 3-2 to the Arizona Coyotes at Rogers Place on Monday.
It’s the team’s first loss against a Pacific Division opponent this year.
Edmonton got off to a hot start against one of the league’s toughest defenses. Allowing just 2.1 goals a game, Arizona was unable to contain Oilers captain Connor McDavid early on, as he scored on the team’s first shot of the game.
McDavid started the break from his own end, getting the puck up to Draisaitl in the neutral zone, he then returned it to McDavid at the offensive blue line who put on the jets to race around Coyotes defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, cutting towards the net and tucking the puck past Darcy Kuemper in spectacular fashion while hitting the ice. His seventh of the season gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead 1:31 into the first period.
It was a tough start for the goalies.
While the goal seemed to spark the Oilers momentarily, the Coyotes would catch a break just two minutes after McDavid’s goal.
After picking the puck from Draisaitl at centre ice, Coyotes forward Michael Grabner broke in the Oilers zone down the left wing, past Edmonton defenceman Ethan Bear getting a clear, bad angle shot on net, finding a hole between Mikko Koskinen’s blocker and pad on the short side for the unassisted tying goal on Arizona’s first shot of the game.
But both goalies would settle in after the early hiccups.
Oilers head coach Dave Tippett moved Zack Kassian to the second line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and James Neal, and a relentless fore check nearly got them on the board.
The trio forced a couple of Arizona turnovers in their defensive end, and with a battle in front of the Coyotes net, the puck was knocked loose, lying in the slot with Kuemper out of position. Nugent-Hopkins dove and took a swing at it, but couldn’t get enough on it, allowing Kuemper to recover, make the save and hold it for a faceoff.
And before the end of the period, Koskinen made a stellar save on a similar play.
After making the initial pad save on Nick Schmaltz, a battle for possession ensued in front of the net. Schmaltz was able to find a wide-open Conor Garland in front, who had been knocked to the ice moments earlier. Upon getting up he tried to flip the puck past Koskinen, but the Oilers goalie stretched out his glove for a beautiful save to keep the game tied 1-1 heading into intermission.
The Coyotes would snag their first lead of the game mid-way through the second.
Joel Persson turned the puck over to Coyotes forward Carl Soderberg at the Arizona blue line, allowing him to break through the neutral zone along the left wing boards and into the Oilers zone. Soderberg then ripped a shot from the slot beating Koskinen over the shoulder on the far glove side for the 2-1 Coyotes lead.
“He had a tough night,” Tippett said of Persson whose playing time was limited after the costly turnover. “The pace of the game was a little bit much for him to handle tonight so we had to play somebody else in that place.”
Though they had a few in the second half of the period, Edmonton’s best chance came in the dying seconds. Pressuring Arizona in their end, McDavid picked up the puck in the slot, danced through two defenders and had the puck knocked off his stick in front of the net. It landed in the tape of Alex Chiasson, who was moved up to the first line to start this game, and he could not beat Kuemper. His drought continues despite the opportunity to play on a line with McDavid and Draisaitl.
“I put him in that place to give him a good opportunity tonight,” Tippet said of his decision. "And there wasn’t a lot happening there, just a lot of pucks going through him, just not much generating there.”
The Oilers had several chances to tie the game throughout the third period but struggled to beat Kuemper who made 26 saves on the night.
“Both teams had some chances,” Tippett said. “I thought we pushed as the game went on, but they clogged things up and Kuemper is a good goalie.”
The Oilers managed to solve Kuemper with less than five minutes to play when a Matt Benning shot from the point was redirected past the Coyotes goalie. Initially credited to Zack Kassian, the goal was later awarded to Gaetan Haas, giving him his first career NHL goal.
“It’s special for sure, but in the end, we lose.” Hass said when asked about the milestone moment. “We came back in the third pretty hard and it’s good that we scored this goal, and we get a point, and maybe in the end it’s a point we need.”
“We weren’t good in the first half of the game, I thought,” McDavid said postgame. “In the second half we found our rhythm quite fast, played with a little energy, got pucks to the net, I thought we were pretty good.”
While the goal provided a surge of energy in the building heading into overtime, for the first time this season, it was not Draisaitl or any other Oiler taking the game’s final shot.
Mid-way through the quick-paced extra frame, Schmaltz and Derek Stepan led the Coyotes attack into Oilers territory. Schmaltz then threaded the needle on a pass to Stepan who tucked one over the shoulder of Koskinen for the game-winning goal, serving the Oilers their first overtime loss of the season.
After the game, the Oilers coach called out some players for their inability to execute in a close game.
“It’s poor execution,” Tippet criticized. “By players that either trying to make a better play than what’s available or just not dealing with the speed and executing at that speed.”
“We’ve got to try and make plays at some point,” McDavid said when asked about the Oilers’ turnovers. “I’m all for protecting the puck and I think we’ve done a good job of that but we need to make plays at some point.”
Though McDavid and Draisaitl each picked up a point Monday night, a couple of Boston Bruins pulled ahead of them in the points race, in a 6-4 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
David Pasternak’s two point night gives him a league-leading 29 points, while a five point night from Brad Marchand catapults him to second, two points of ahead Draisaitl who is now in third.
Marchand’s three assists give him a league-leading 18 on the season, one ahead of McDavid.
The Oilers, still leading the Pacific Division with a 10-4-2 record, are off on Tuesday before hosting the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.
