Oilers lose 3-2 to Jets, potentially lose McDavid to injury
This is the first time since 2014, nine years now, the Oilers have dropped their first two home games
The Edmonton Oilers can’t win with Connor McDavid and can’t win without him.
There’s a lot of hurtin’ and losin’ going on with the Oilers right now. They fell 3-2 in OT to the Winnipeg Jets on Mark Scheifele’s goal Saturday, after being up two goals after the game’s first six shots, to tumble to 1-3-1 through five games.
They didn’t have 97 for his last two five-on-five shifts in the third period as they pressed with 13 shots in the frame and he sat on the bench in OT as a cheerleader until Scheifele tipped one past Stuart Skinner at 3:53 of the extra period when he got past his check Leon Draisaitl. And the Oilers are now nine points back of 6-0 Vegas in the Pacific Division and we aren’t through October yet.
Yeah, it’s not even Hallowe’en, but can they pick up nine points on the Cup champs?
Let’s take the best player in the world, first, of course.
While video seemed to show McDavid grabbing his hip when he got tangled up with Josh Morrissey along the boards 13 minutes into the game with the Jets’ assistant captain getting the take-down penalty, McDavid, who had two earlier assists on goals by Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard, still played almost 21 minutes.
“It appeared muscular, just to me, as a I watched during the play,” said Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft, who didn’t think it was the Morrissey incident because he soldiered through until deep in the game.
“We’ll see. I’m sure we’ll have more information tomorrow.”
“I thought it was more him coming up the ice (not the Morrissey entanglement), and something just fell off for him. That’s what it looked like from the bench but I’ve got to rewatch the tape,” said Woodcroft.
The Oilers may be playing us all for suckers; it wasn’t a total news blackout but it could be worse than, say, a muscle pull. McDavid took a twirl before the overtime, but when Ryan McLeod went out with Draisaitl rather than the captain to start the 3-on-3, the crowd went uh, oh. The Jets said something that sounded like hallelujah.
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“I think we noticed, that’s probably the understatement of the century,” said Morrissey. “I don’t know what’s going on there but 3-on-3 in OT, you’re looking for him. We did notice…yeah.”
There was no Robaxacet for that McDavid muscle, if that’s what it is, and hopefully it’s nothing more serious, so he sat, and watched another Oilers loss. This is the first time since 2014, nine years now, the Oilers have dropped their first two home games. That was the Dallas Eakins’ era at Rexall Place.
In this one, the Oilers got good goaltending from last year’s Calder trophy runner-up Skinner, but for one gaffe when he hesitated as he came out of his net to play a puck by the face-off circle, lost a race to Alex Iafallo and Vlad Namestnikov scored a Jets’ shortie off a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-2 late in the second.
Their penalty-kill which went into the game 68 per cent, was four-for-five, giving up just the one to Morrissey on a screened 55-footer midway through the first. They battled unlike the no-show in Philadelphia two nights before. They got 40 shots on Hellebuyck, two by the six-minute mark, they got winger Evander Kane’s most involved game of the first five (a spirited fight with former San Jose teammate Brenden Dillon; funny how many people in the seats put their phones down to watch, and four hits) and after giving up 17 goals in the first four games, they surrendered just three.
“It’s very frustrating (losing), of course. Our plan was to get off to a good start (season) and we haven’t been able to find that,” said Draisaitl, who played a team high 23:41.
“We’re just too up and down, not consistent enough right now. It feels like every mistake we make ends up in the back of our net. We have lots of things to fix.
“Obviously we couldn’t get it done tonight, and there was a little mistake there by me,” said Draisaitl, who went high in his zone and Scheifele slid by him to get his stick on a Morrissey feed for the winn
Skinner hesitated on the shorthanded goal to tie it, the second one the Oilers have given up this week (Sean Walker scored on Jack Campbell in Philly Thursday).
“The puck was coming down and it was a bit of a 50-50. I didn’t really catch a read on our guy or their guy. I had a little stutter-step, went for it, got scored on and moved on,” said Skinner, wondering if there was some miscommunication.
Nurse was steaming back into his zone.
“We both stutter-stepped at the exact same time,” said Skinner. “I had to make a few choices and I made the wrong one. Now I know what to do next time.
“I don’t think there’s a perfect world where you play out pthat situation and the same thing happens 10 times in a row. There’s probably a multitude of things we could have done better on that play,” said Nurse.
They could have broken the game open with their quick two on Hellebuyck, who had given up 13 goals in 70 shots coming into this one. But that was all they got.
“Their goaltender made a couple of saves on breakaways (Warren Foegele and Mattias Janmark). That kept them in the game. Good compete level, we had the majority of the chances, just couldn’t find the two points, just the one,” said Woodcroft, looking for a slice of heaven in an early-season hell.
They were the better team in the third but couldn’t score.
“I can’t explain that oddity (no third-period goals). It’s a small sample size but it is what it is. I haven’t studied why that is,” said Woodcroft.
What’s the prescription for what ails the Oilers?
“Killer instinct,” said Nurse.
Moving ahead, that four-game suspension to Calgary D-man Rasmus Andersson for senseless hit on Patrick Laine with two seconds left Friday means the Flames best blueliner might not play in the outdoor game Oct. 29. That’s game four of the suspension but sources say the Flames may appeal it.
He forfeits close to 100 grand…Sam Gagner, still waiting for his work visa to join Bakersfield Condors, likely on an AHL contract, was rotating as a fourth-liner at Saturday morning’s practise…
Winger Adam Erne was scratched as they went with seven D for the first time this season…Former Oiler farmhand Jason Demers, who got into one game last season in San Jose (his 700th NHL game) before retiring, is now doing TV work for the Sharks, his old club.Flyers’ defenceman Marc Staal, who crashed into the end boards against the Oilers Thursday is out “weeks” according to Philly coach John Tortorella. It may be ribs.
