On a Tuesday night when all 32 National Hockey League teams took to the ice, one matchup seemed to stand out above the rest as the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes.
Two of the league’s best teams in recent years going head to head, a year after fireworks in both games saw the Edmonton side take a 6-1 win, and the Carolina side a 6-3 win. Last night’s soiree didn’t disappoint.
In fact, the game was so narrow it took until the final six seconds of overtime for it to be decided, when Sebastian Aho blasted a one-timer past a sprawling Stuart Skinner, who couldn’t find a way to come up with one more highlight reel save.
Connor McDavid kicked off the party three and a half minutes into the game as the Oilers seemed shot out of a cannon, generating scoring chances early in the game. He would take a puck the length of the ice, wiring a shot home past Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen, who mirrored Skinner’s acrobatics for most of the night.
The Oilers kept the pressure on, and the power play finally clicked, thanks to McDavid once again. While his first was from distance, number two was in tight, dancing around Hurricanes players to tuck one home. The team continued to weather the storm until Shayne Gostisbehere got Carolina’s first 44 seconds into the third, with Martin Necas tying it up with just under seven minutes left in the period.
In overtime, the teams traded chances, but miscommunication led to McDavid and defenceman Evan Bouchard getting “cross up,” the captain explained, and the play ended up in the back of Edmonton’s net.
“We had a few looks, they had a few looks,” he added. “Obviously, we’d like that one back. A little bit of talking would probably be good.”
It’s hard to find solace in a 2-4-1 start, but Tuesday offered glimmers of hope. McDavid broke out with a two-goal performance, the power play clicked, and Stuart Skinner kept the Oilers in the game. The only problem? Losing a point after having a two-goal lead has undeniable sting to it.
“In the first, I wasn’t happy at all about our play but I thought the second was a lot better,” said defenceman Mattias Ekholm, adding, “And in the third, they get the early goal, but I still didn’t feel like… — sure, they had some zone time, and they had the puck, but at the end of the day, I didn’t feel like we were out of position too much.
“But then obviously they get that off the rush and overtime is overtime. Again, I think we can be better, absolutely, but right now, it’s just a matter of finding wins and we can’t really do that right now. It’s back to the drawing board a little bit.”
There’s only so many things that can be drawn up amid games like these, and those aforementioned glimmers of hope in a tough game were all positive signs for a team who, for the overwhelming majority of the game, played their best of the year.
“I’m completely confident in our group,” Ekholm said. “I know it’s early in the year, and it’s a matter of working through it.
“I wasn’t expecting everybody to be firing where we left off. It’s going to take a little bit of time, but I do like our team and we’re on the right track.”
The Oilers will have days before their next game, when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, before a three game road trip sees them stop in Columbus, Nashville and Calgary.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
