Petr Mrazek made 36 saves as the Detroit Red Wings drubbed the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 Sunday afternoon at Rogers Place.
The Oilers were coming off a win over New Jersey Friday night and have yet to win back-to-back games this season.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers pull away from Devils for much-needed win
The Red Wings opened the scoring 3:23 into the game on a beautiful deflection by Frans Nielsen. Nick Jensen’s point shot was going well wide, but Nielson knifed out his stick to direct the puck behind Cam Talbot.
“It kinda started with a bad bounce early then I think things kind of got away from us a little bit,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “Definitely not the way we want to play after that first goal, and for whatever reason we … stopped defending a little bit and just kinda went for it. So wasn’t our best night for sure we’ve just gotta regroup now.”
About six minutes later, Gustav Nyquist took advantage of some sloppy coverage by the Oilers and swatted home a loose puck.
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Martin Frk scored the only goal of the second period, ripping home a one-timer just seconds after Mrazek made a big save on Drake Caggiula at the other end of the rink.
Anthony Mantha added a power play in the third.
READ MORE: Pittsburgh Penguins’ power play sinks Edmonton Oilers
“We’re not quick enough to loose pucks, we don’t keep a lot of plays alive in the offensive zone,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan. “Some of that’s actual skating pace; a lot of that’s just reading and reacting, and I don’t think we defend quick enough. Our penalty kill isn’t reacting fast enough. Our power play doesn’t react quick enough. There’s plays there, and a lot of these open nets that are laying there — we’re just a fraction slow on firing the puck. So yeah, we’ve got to play faster.”
The Oilers drop to 4-8-1 on the season.
They’ve won just three of nine home games and start a four-game road trip Tuesday against the New York Islanders.
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