The Edmonton Oilers lost their second game in a row, falling 5-2 Tuesday night to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Lightning forward Steven Stamkos ripped a shot over the glove of Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen before the game was five minutes old to put the Lightning in front.
Oilers forward Ty Rattie had a great chance to tie it up a few minutes later. He was set up by Connor McDavid and had most of the net to shoot at, but Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy dove across and the puck went off his mask and deflected out of play.
The Oilers were coming off a loss to Washington the night before, and head coach Todd McLellan felt the scheduling didn’t help them early in the game.
“We played back to back and it took us a little while for us to find our legs,” he said after the game.
LISTEN BELOW: Oilers head coach Todd McLellan reflects on the team’s second loss in as many nights to the Lightning.
Lightning forward Brayden Point poked in a loose puck in the final minute of the period to make it 2-0 Tampa Bay.
With the teams playing four-on-four in the second, the Oilers’ Ryan Strome wristed a shot just inside the post for his first of the season. Tampa Bay forward Yanni Gourde came back for the Lightning just 47 seconds later, then Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov fired a shot top shelf with 1:01 to go in the frame.
The Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl converted a pass from Rattie for a power play goal 40 seconds into the third. Kucherov added his second of the night on a man advantage with 11:37 to go.
Oilers defenceman Oscar Klefbom said Tampa Bay took advantage of their opportunities.
“Today they got a lot of opportunities, and they were very effective,” he said.
“It was not very well executed by us.”
LISTEN BELOW: Defenseman Oscar Klefbom speaks following the Oilers 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay.
The Oilers (8-6-1) will visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
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