The Day After: The way of the road…
By Zach Laing
2 years agoYou win some, you lose some.
It’s the way of the road and for an Edmonton Oilers club heading to the playoffs, a 6-3 loss in their second last game of the season to the Vancouver Canucks isn’t the end of the world.
But that’s not to say the loss will be accepted.
“I said after the game we need a good practice tomorrow,” said a stern, clearly frustrated head coach Dave Tippett after the loss. “We scored a couple, but didn’t get close enough.”
Three minutes worth of questions from the media, and Tippett was ready to move on.
Mikko Koskinen allowed four shots on the first four goals of the game — a feat unreached since 1989 — and swiftly got pulled from the game in favor of Mike Smith, who tightened the game up, but still allowing two goals.
“The first one is poor coverage, second is a poor turnover and the third and fourth one should’ve been saves from the goalie,” said Tippett. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that where the first four shots go in your net.”
It’s not a new thing to see Koskinen struggling early in games and it’s far from the first time he’s allowed goals on the first shot of the game. The truth is, however, that despite last night’s poor showing he’s still been solid for Edmonton this year. Here’s how the pair’s numbers have broken down at 5×5 since Smith returned from injury on Feb. 8:
| GP/TOI | SV% | GSAA | HDSV% | |
| Koskinen | 11 – 498:52 | .925 | -.75 | .818 |
| Smith | 29 – 1388:58 | .929 | .75 | .835 |
Frustrating? Yes. Major cause for concern? I wouldn’t say so. Goalies, like any player on the team, have their off nights. Unfortunately for Koskinen it saw him pulled a little over halfway through the first period.
Tippett said he never thought about having goaltender Alex Stalock on the bench last night to back up Koskinen, but one has to wonder if he gets a game soon. Edmonton claimed him off the waiver wire March 1st, and has been practicing with the team on the taxi squad for nearly two months now.
He’s the clubs’ third goalie and Edmonton’s last line of defence should — knock on wood — both Smith and Koskinen go down. Stalock remains under contract through this offseason and could be one of two goalies here next season.
If I’m the Oilers, I’d like to see what I’ve got in game action.
Backhanders…
- Edmonton fought back with a valiant effort and closed the gap to 5-3 in the third almost giving a “hey wait a second” thought that the Oilers could mount a monumental comeback, but it didn’t happen.
- The hunt for 100 continues for Connor McDavid. He had three assists last night, his ninth multi-point game since April 17, and now only needs four points to hit the century mark. Edmonton has two more games against Vancouver, and a pair against Montreal. The season he’s having is absolutely wild.
- Teammate Leon Draisaitl isn’t having any issues scoring this year, either. He’s not up to 75 points on the season after a two-point performance last night, and is only three points away from 500 on his career. Equally as crazy.
What they’re saying…
It may be a game that has little impact on the history of the Vancouver Canucks.But it will be a night Jack Rathbone will always remember, as the rookie scored his first NHL goal in a 6-3 win for the Canucks against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place in the Alberta capital on Thursday night.Rathbone potted the game’s second goal — in a stretch of four goals on four shots to open the game — and played a lot. With the Oilers chasing the game he, like his teammates, spent a lot more time defending than they did on attack after the Canucks’ early burst of offence.Rathbone scored his goal by jumping up from the blue line to snag a loose puck and then fired it home past Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen.“It was kind of a gift with the puck laying there in the slot,” he said after the game. “That’s the dream, just to be able to walk down Main Street kind of there. I was just lucky enough that it went in.”Connor McDavid may be having an All-World season, but coming back from a 4-0 deficit is hard for any team. And while the Oilers did claw back a pair of goals in the first period, they never reeled the game closer than 4-2.The Oilers are looking to lock down home-ice advantage in the playoffs but the Canucks reminded them that you need a goalie that’s on its game no matter where you’re playing. Edmonton backup Mikko Koskinen was handed the start, but was quickly hooked after he didn’t make a save with his team quickly in a 4-0 hole.At the other end of the ice, Thatcher Demko had his best game since the Canucks returned to action after their COVID-19 outbreak. He made a number of tough saves and stonewalled McDavid on a penalty shot. – Patrick Johnson, The Province
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
Recent articles from Zach Laing
