It’s not often you see exciting games that finish by a score of 1-0. Tuesday’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights was the exception, though, as the visiting team came up short despite a dominant third period effort. 
The game’s only goal came midway through the first period, as Ivan Barbashev and Jack Eichel were off to a 2-on-1. Evan Bouchard made a nice diving play to block the pass across, but the puck bounced right back on Barbashev’s stick and he beat Stuart Skinner low for the only goal. Go figure that was the only way one of the teams would score on Tuesday.
With that being said, the Oilers didn’t just roll over and go quietly into the night. In the third period, the team registered 16 shots to the Golden Knights’ two and were all over the 2023 Stanley Cup champions, but couldn’t buy a goal. It happens sometimes.

Takeaways…

A big concern in this game is Troy Stecher, who was hit in the ear with a puck early in the third period. He went down immediately and even Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar called for a trainer, albeit he skated to the bench by himself. Stecher did not return for the remainder of the game.
Golden Knights netminder Adin Hill made 28 saves for his second shutout of the season, including 16 shots in the third period. This was the third time the Oilers were shutout all season, but it was a lot closer than their season-opening 6-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets or their 3-0 loss to the Montréal Canadiens.
Vegas won the goaltending battle, but by no means was Stuart Skinner bad in this game. Sure, he probably should’ve saved the only goal in this game, but that was just an unlucky bounce that went back to the puck carrier. Overall, he saved 15 shots on 16 opportunities for a .938 save percentage, his second consecutive game with a save percentage of .935 or better.
Neither team had a power-play opportunity in this game, meaning the Oilers haven’t allowed a power-play goal against in nine of their last ten games. An interesting note from Jack Michaels here… that was the first time since 1944 that a game has finished with one goal or less without a penalty.
Although it’s early December, this game was an important one, as the Oilers had a chance to move within three points of the Golden Knights for the top of the division. With the regulation loss, Edmonton now sits seven points back of the Golden Knights with one fewer game played.
The Oilers return home on Thursday from a three-game road that saw wins over the Utah Hockey Club and Colorado Avalanche. Their next game will be against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, before welcoming Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway back on Saturday against the St. Louis Blues.
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