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Oilers struck down by Lightning in 5-2 loss: Recap, Reaction and Highlights
Edmonton Oilers Tampa Bay Lightning Connor Murphy
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Mar 22, 2026, 01:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 22, 2026, 00:59 EDT
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For the second consecutive game, the Edmonton Oilers were outclassed by a team based in Florida.
After falling 4-0 on Thursday to the Florida Panthers, the Oilers fell 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday in what was a chippy game. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one.
In the final minute of the first period, the Oilers opened the scoring. Connor McDavid won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Evan Bouchard, who had his initial shot blocked. The defenceman’s second shot did get through, with McDavid getting a piece of it to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Oilers led through the intermission, but the Lightning tied the game just 97 seconds into the middle frame. After establishing the cycle, a shot from the point took a funny hop, and Nikita Kucherov shoveled the puck into the slot. Anthony Cirelli was able to tap it in to tie the game.
Six minutes into the second, the temperature of the game dialed up after Pontus Holmberg hit Evan Bouchard from behind, drawing a scrum where McDavid grabbed Homberg, and the latter dropped his gloves. Vasily Podkolzin and Darnell Nurse laid a big hit on Brandon Hagel, Podkolzin fought, Nurse got an illegal check to the head penalty, and the Lightning ended up with a power play. With just under eight minutes in the second period, Jake Guentzel walked out from behind the net and roofed it.
We’ll look at the stuff with the officials in the takeaways, but on an Oilers power play, the Lightning took a 3-1 lead thanks to Kucherov’s first career short-handed goal after coming out of the box. That goal came with about three minutes left in the period.
The Oilers got to within one thanks to Josh Samanski’s first career goal. Was it as pretty as Jordan Eberle’s goal back in 2010? Nope, as Oliver Bjorkstrand backhanded it toward his own goal, with the puck bouncing past Vasilevskiy.
Kucherov picked up his fourth point of the game, as he received the puck all alone in the slot. On a penalty kill in the final minute of play, Cirelli scored his second of the game into the open net.

Takeaways..

After a fairly pedestrian first period, the game heated up after Pontus Holmberg hit Evan Bouchard from behind. While Bouchard didn’t put himself in a great position, this is a textbook boarding and should have been called.
Midway through the second period, Podkolzin and Nurse both hit Brandon Hagel, causing two different talking points. The first is that Anthony Cirelli challenged Podkolzin to a fight, and it once again didn’t go well for the challenger. For some reason, no instigation penalty was called on the play, despite Podkolzin getting called for two earlier this season.
Unfortunately, Podkolzin made contact first, which rode Hagel up the board, putting his head level to Nurse, who made contact with Hagel’s head. Somehow, the Lightning received the power play and later scored. There were a few more missed calls or questionable calls in the third period, but the game settled down from there.
Until the final minute of the game. Erik Černák hit Podkolzin from behind, but no Oiler stepped up for him. It was a pretty bad look, even though they got a power play down two, given Podkolzin has stepped up numerous times after big hits.
Since the game against the Dallas Stars on March 12, the Oilers have been getting involved in a lot more scrums. If you recall, a puck was shot at Leon Draisaitl at the end of the second period in that game against the Stars, which got McDavid involved. There were scrums against the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, and San Jose Sharks.
As for the hockey that was played, Josh Samanski scored his first career goal thanks to the Lightning shooting it into their own net. You’ll take it. He was paired with Matthew Savoie and Jack Roslovic on the third line, and the trio should get another look.
It was a pretty rough game for Connor McDavid, who scored his 38th goal of the season, but had four penalty minutes (one minor being a coincidental call). McDavid was also a minus-2, not great. Kasperi Kapanen was flying in this game, generating numerous chances with his speed. What a nice pickup he’s been for the Oilers’ middle six.
On top of the Podkolzin fight, Connor Murphy dropped the gloves for the first time as an Oiler, answering for the Holmberg hit earlier in the second period. The Oilers’ defenceman got the better of the Lightning player. Darnell Nurse was pretty physical in this game, laying eight hits on the Florida team.
Sticking with the Oilers named Connor, netminder Connor Ingram had another tough game, allowing four goals on 26 total shots for an .846 save percentage.
That was the final game of the four-game homestand, which the Oilers finished 2-2. Next up for them is a matchup against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. MT.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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