On Thursday evening, the Oilers played the Panthers for the second time this season, falling 4-0 to the reigning Stanley Cup champions on home ice. Let’s take a look at what went on in this game.

The Panthers took the lead just over 11 minutes into the game. Cole Reinhardt got in behind the Oilers’ defence, so when the Oilers turned it over after a rush chance, it led to a partial breakaway. Reinhardt fended off Evan Bouchard, made a quick hesitation move to freeze Connor Ingram, and deposited it into the empty net.

In the final minute of the first period, the Panthers extended their lead to two. Mike Benning’s point shot was deflected in front of the net by A.J. Greer, beating Ingram to give them a 2-0 lead. Simply put, the defence on this goal was not good, as no one even attempted to tie up Greer’s stick.

A 2-0 lead was always going to be hard to overcome of considering how the Oilers were playing, but the game was put away with a little under six minutes in the second period. On a power play, there was a scramble in the slot, with the puck leaking out to Anton Lundell on the weak side. He was able to beat Ingram for the Panthers’ third goal.

The Panthers added a fourth goal just in case there was any late comeback attempt. With about four and a half minutes left in the game, the Panthers won an offensive-zone faceoff thanks to a winger win. Matthew Tkachuk made a quick pass to Carter Verhaeghe, who beat Ingram.

Takeaways…

The Oilers have suffered a handful of losses since the Olympic break, including a 7-2 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Stars last Thursday. This was by far their worst game since the break, as they couldn’t seem to get anything going against the team that beat them in the last two Stanley Cup Finals.

It’s also just the third time all season they’ve been shut out this season. The difference is in the pair of 1-0 losses, one to the Minnesota Wild and the other to the New York Islanders, they were the better team. That wasn’t the case on Thursday.

The Oilers carried a two-game winning streak coming into this game, but once again, they couldn’t win the elusive third consecutive game. They are now 1-9-2 when they have an opportunity for a three-game winning streak.

Matt Savoie didn’t get a point in this game, but he and Connor McDavid have continued to show chemistry on the Oilers’ top line. In this game, they played alongside Vasily Podkolzin. The rest of the Oilers’ three lines had a rather quiet game.

That included Trent Frederic, who played just over nine minutes in this game over 11 shifts. He wasn’t on the bench for the third period, so let’s hope it isn’t a long-term thing because he’s played quite well since the calendar flipped.

It was a tough game for Connor Ingram, as he stopped 19 of 23 shots for an .826 save percentage, one of his worst games as an Oiler. Still, he’s played well as of late, so don’t expect him to lose the starter role unless there are a couple of poor games in a row.

The Oilers finish their home stand on Saturday, as they host the other Florida-based team, the Tampa Bay Lightning. That game will be the nightcap of Hockey Night in Canada, with an 8 p.m. MT start time.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.