An entertaining game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs was decided on a bizarre goal Thursday night at Rogers Place. With the game tied 4-4, Oilers defenceman Kris Russell accidentally scored on his own net with 1:05 left in the third. The Leafs added an empty-netter to win 6-4.
“It was a bounce. Tried to battle it out. Obviously you know what happened,” a disappointed Russell said after the game. “Thought we came back and played well. I’m pretty frustrated with the way it ended.”
Despite the blunder, Russell’s teammates were behind him 100 per cent following the game.
“He’s a guy you would go to war for, honestly, he does everything for us” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said after the game. “He battles so hard each and every night and he had a great game. Offensively and defensively, he was solid.”
“He does so much good for us; you can’t fault a guy for making a mistake like that. We make mistakes throughout the game – just because it happened at the end of the game, it doesn’t mean he had a worse outing than everyone else,” Oilers goaltender Laurent Brossoit said.
“I didn’t see it on a Toronto stick but at the same time I could have been a little sharper and a bit more ready, especially with a minute left,” Brossoit added.
For the eighth straight game, the Oilers allowed the first goal. Darnell Nurse took a holding penalty in the opening minute, and Auston Matthews ripped home a power play goal 2:15 in. Less than four minutes later, Dominic Moore beat Brossoit short side to make it 2-0. The Oilers pulled back within a goal on Mark Letestu’s fifth of the season, but just 29 seconds later Matt Martin converted a goal-mouth pass from Moore to make it 3-1 Toronto.
The Oilers fought back in the second period. Zack Kassian banged in a centring pass from Jujhar Khaira 6:38 into the frame. With 2:28 to go, Russell threaded a pass to McDavid, who chipped the puck behind Frederik Andersen. However, the Oilers’ league-worst penalty kill was victimized again with Eric Gryba in the box for roughing. William Nylander fired a shot right under the crossbar to make it 4-3 Leafs after two.
Russell tied it on a one-timer 3:01 into the third. However, with 1:05 to go, Russell was trying to clear the front of the net and inadvertently drilled the puck between Brossoit’s legs. Patrick Marleau got credit. Nazem Kadri hit the empty net with one second left.
“You don’t have to be on our bench or a teammate, you feel for him. He had a great night and there was never any intent to do it and a not so good thing happened to a great player,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan explained. “We’re OK.”
“Just a lucky bounce and it was good timing,” added Toronto’s Patrick Marleau, who got credit for the goal.
“I was trying to pressure the defenceman to get a secondary opportunity,” explained Kadri, who was near Russell when the play happened. “I just tried to lift his stick and I think he panicked a little bit.
“I had no idea what happened originally. I just saw the goal light on and the puck behind him. I kind of figured that’s what happened but I wasn’t 100 percent sure and obviously it was a fortunate bounce for us.”
Brossoit made 30 saves. He was starting in place of Cam Talbot, who has been placed on injured reserve with an upper body injury.
The Oilers fall to 10-14-2. They’ll visit Calgary on Saturday.
-With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Ullrich and Scott Johnston
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