A new month didn’t bring any new results for the Edmonton Oilers.
The Pittsburgh Penguins scored two power play goals to knock off the Oilers 3-2 Wednesday night at Rogers Place. The Oilers fall to 3-7-1 on the season.
“There is nothing else to say, we just need to find ways to win hockey games right now,” Oilers forward Patrick Maroon said after the loss. “We can sit here and talk about what we need to do right now but I think enough is enough, we’ve got to find a way to win hockey games.”
“This one is pretty hard to swallow right now, we were right there the whole game,” forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added. “There wasn’t much separating us. If anything, I thought we outplayed them a little bit, but right now it’s tough to swallow.”
The first period was scoreless though both teams had chances to break the ice. Cam Talbot robbed Conor Sheary with a great glove save about seven minutes in. The Oilers had several chances a few minutes later on a power play but couldn’t get one past Matt Murray.
Patric Hornqvist opened the scoring 56 seconds into the second frame with a power play deflection. Nugent-Hopkins evened it up about six minutes later, converting a pass from Maroon late in an Oilers power play.
Just 50 seconds later, Kris Letang’s clearing attempt hit the referee and bounced to Connor McDavid. McDavid drove the net and made a deft pass to Leon Draisaitl, who gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead. In the last minute of the second, McDavid just missed converting a pass from Maroon. The Penguins charged the other way with Sheary tapping in a pass from Sidney Crosby.
The Oilers failed to score on two power plays early in the third. The Penguins went on a man advantage with just under eight mintues to go, and Evgeni Malkin cashed in to make it 3-2.
“The pattern is similar to the way it’s been a lot of the games. We give up a goal late in the period and whether it ties it up or changes things, we come out in the third and we have power play chances and we don’t do much with them,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said. “The pattern is similar from game to game and it’s something we have to break, obviously.”
Edmonton pressured in the final minute but Murray made great saves on Maroon and Nugent-Hopkins.
“Just trying to stay loose. You know they’re going to throw a lot of pucks to the net and get a lot of bodies there, especially late when they’re trying to tie it up like that so, yeah, I just tried to stay aggressive and save space,” Murray explained. “I played it pretty well. Our guys did a pretty good job keeping them to the outside for the most part.”
The Oilers will host New Jersey on Friday night.
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