The Edmonton Oilers lost their fifth in a row, getting pummeled 7-4 by the San Jose Sharks Saturday afternoon at Rogers Place.
“We sag too easy,” Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said.”We get outplayed and, emotionally, we sag far too easy.”
The Oilers scored first 6:28 into the game. Ty Rattie’s shot hit the inside of the post and wobbled along the goal line.
Sharks goalie Martin Jones swiped it away, but Connor McDavid banged in the rebound for his 20th of the season.
Joonas Donskoi came back only 16 seconds for the Sharks, finishing off a three-on-one.
“When they have one of the best players in the world you can never count them out. We know that,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said. “It was a big game going into a big stretch for us–going into Calgary coming up and with Colorado and Tampa, so it was nice to get these first two out of the way with wins and move on to Calgary.”
Tomas Hertl maneuvered around Cam Talbot in front to put the Sharks ahead less than four minutes later.
The Sharks completely dominated the second period, out-shooting the Oilers 16-7 and getting goals from Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson to take a 4-1 lead. It was Karlsson’s first game back from suspension and he finished with a goal and three assists and a plus-five rating.
“It felt good and gave me a chance to get into it. Overall I think we played a well played game,” Karlsson said. “Unfortunately we gave up four goals. I don’t we should have done that, but at least we scored seven.”
The rout continued in the third. Melker Karlsson scored early in the frame before Couture struck shorthanded.
Caleb Jones got one back for Edmonton, converting a pass in front from Rattie. It was Jones’ first NHL goal. Melker Karlsson scored the Sharks seventh goal.
Leon Draisaitl and McDavid scored late for Edmonton.
“I think we’ve had good spurts but then we have bonehead plays that end up sucking the wind out of our sails,” Oilers forward Zack Kassian said. “We haven’t played a complete 60 minutes in quite a while.”
“You’ve got to have a short memory in this league,” Oilers defenceman Caleb Jones said. “You’ve got to move on and focus on the next one.”
The Oilers, 18-17-3, will host the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.
-with files from Brenden Escott and Scott Johnston
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