Mikko Koskinen gave the Edmonton Oilers another excellent start in goal, leading them to a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night at Roger Place.
“The goaltender was unbelievable. The rest of the group was not so unbelievable,” head coach Dave Tippett said.
“I was worried about us a bit this morning–there wasn’t much juice in our group. I don’t know if it’s mental fatigue or fatigue or whatever it is, but we were not good.”
LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett
He made 46 saves. Thursday in Chicago, Koskinen stopped ten shots in relief of Mike Smith. Tuesday in Dallas, he made 43 saves in a 2-1 overtime win.
Alex Chiasson scored on the first shot of the game, 3:08 in, as his long shot eluded Joonas Korpisalo. It was domination by the Blue Jackets after that, as they outshot the Oilers 21-7. Mikko Koskinen made several good saves to keep Columbus off the board.
“At this time of year, you would think as a team, with games like this and how close the standings are–how every game is meaningful–you’d think maybe we’d be on our toes a little more,” Chiasson said. “Hopefully it’s a good lesson.”
LISTEN BELOW: Alex Chiasson
Koskinen continues to hold strong in the second period. The Oilers continued to struggle to generate any offence. The shots were 30-13 Blue Jackets after two.
“They got a lot of shots but most of them were from outside,” Koskinen said.
“I don’t think we could have played any better,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “We played good as a team away from the puck. And their goalie is the difference, that’s the difference in the game is their goaltending.”
With 4:28 to go in the third, Caleb Jones point shot ticked off a Blue Jacket and skipped past Korpisalo. Less than a minute later, Connor McDavid tapped in a goal mouth pass from Zack Kassian to make it 3-0.
Gustav Nyquist fired in his own rebound on a breakaway to end Koskinen’s shut out bid with 59 seconds left. Riley Sheahan came back with an empty netter to lock up the win.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s three one,” Koskinen said about losing the shutout. “If that happens in the middle of the third, that’s a different game.”
LISTEN BELOW: Mikko Koskinen
The Oilers, 37-24-8, will host Vegas on Monday.
With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Escott and Kyle Morris
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