The Edmonton Oilers are going to need some help if they’re going to catch the Vegas Golden Knights this season.
Adin Hill turned aside 28 shots on Tuesday night in Vegas as the Golden Knights edged out the Oilers by a score of 1-0. A first-period goal from Ivan Babashev was all the home team needed to escape with their second win against their division rivals in as many games this season.
Stuart Skinner had a solid night between the pipes for the Oilers, as the Edmonton native stopped 15 of 16 shots from the Golden Knights. After not getting a high-danger chance in the first period, the Oilers had nine in the second and third compared to three from Vegas.
No penalty was called against either team, so Barbashev’s unassisted goal was the lone item on the emptiest summary sheet you’ll ever see for an NHL game.
The win put Vegas at 16-7-3 on the season, while the Oilers moved to 13-10-2 after their three-game winning streak was snapped. The Golden Knights lead the Pacific Division with 35 points, four up on the Los Angeles Kings, five up on the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, and seven clear of the Oilers.
The Oilers will host the Golden Knights later this month in what feels like a must-win game for keeping the Pacific Division dream alive. With two of four games in the head-to-head between Edmonton and Vegas accounted for, the Oilers won’t be able to make up those seven points against the Golden Knights on their own. They’re also going to need to get some help from other teams if they want to have home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
What they said…
Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch on the Oilers playing in a tight game…
“It was a tight-checking game. There wasn’t much room. Shots showed there wasn’t much for both teams. We had some really good chances in the second period where we did get a good shot. Third period, we had a lot of push. Some chances, overall. Coach’s standpoint, I thought we did a lot of good things. Everything but a puck in the net.”
Defenceman Mattias Ekholm on being shut down by the Golden Knights…
“I thought we had some chances, but they had a hot goaltender. We’ll have to learn from this game because I’m sure we’ll see these guys again. We need to make sure we find ways to create even more.”“I thought a couple of things could have been called, but I thought they kept it pretty even. Obviously, they called nothing for each, so that will happen. We know we have a lot of offensive guys that can score goals in here, so it’s on us to find ways to do it. Unfortunately tonight, their goaltender got the best of us.”
Goaltender Adin Hill on the game feeling a throwback…
“It was a good defensive game by both sides, so I think we got a little lucky with our goal there, and a 1-0 game feels like a 2003 throwback. It was a fun game out there. They got some shots and some chances, but you know they’re going to come out hard there. I thought our guys did a great job kind of keeping them to the outside. Of course they’re going to get a couple looks, but I thought we did an unbelievable job. I thought it was one of our best defensive efforts of the season.”
Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy on beating the Oilers…
“We did our jobs well. That’s what you have to do against Edmonton. It’s no easy task when McDavid’s coming at you fast, and Draisaitl is a strong guy through the neutral zone. But we were able to check in layers against them and I think that’s when we’re the most effective. So, I would say, if it wasn’t the best of the year, it was pretty darn close in terms of what we did well.”
