The Edmonton Oilers lost their third in a row, falling 3-2 to the New York Rangers Saturday night at Rogers Place.
The Oilers were atrocious in their own end in the first period. The Rangers opened the scoring just 54 seconds into the game on a goal from Chris Kreider. The Oilers didn’t have much going in the offensive zone either, managing just six shots in the opening 20 minutes.
“Not the start we wanted. I’m not sure what the reason was,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “It was a little bit of a different start time but they were ready and we weren’t and there’s no excuse for that.”
LISTEN: Todd McLellan on 630 CHED
“We didn’t engage at all in the first period. We weren’t interested in physically being involved in the game, winning races, playing on the inside, winning stick battles, they had their way,” head coach Todd McLellan added.
“We slowly got into it as the game went on but it was too late.”
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Connor McDavid snuck a shot short side past Alexander Georgiev 5:43 into the second. It was McDavid’s 30th goal of the season, tying a career high. The Rangers came back with two goals in 1:16. Mika Zibanejad scored on the power play, then Paul Carey tallied on a deflection to make it 3-1 Rangers. With a delayed penalty coming to the Rangers late in the frame, McDavid set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for his 17th of the season. Nugent-Hopkins was back in action after missing 18 games with cracked ribs.
“It was good to get back out there. I got my legs under me after the first couple of shifts,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “I didn’t feel like I was off for that long. I’ve been skating with the team for the last couple of weeks so you kind of get the feel back there. I had a couple hits early in the game which kind of got my body used to it again”
LISTEN: Ryan-Nugent Hopkins on 630 CHED
“He scored us a goal, it’s hard to come back from an injury late in the season. His injury prevented him from being real active while he was out,” added McLellan on the return of Nugent-Hopkins.
“I thought he managed himself well, he didn’t over extend his shifts and he was effective.”
The Oilers peppered Georgiev with 15 shots in the third period but couldn’t tie it. Oscar Klefbom rang a shot on a power play off the crossbar early on. Milan Lucic was denied in tight with 8:25 left. Edmonton went on a power play with 2:27 to go when Marc Staal cross-checked McDavid. However, the Oilers were called for too many men 1:09 later and didn’t get a chance late.
Georgiev made 35 saves for his first career win.
“It felt unreal, and something like a dream,” Georgiev said. “An amazing feeling and I’ll remember it for my whole life.”
The Oilers, 27-34-4, will host Arizona on Monday.
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