Mikko Koskinen had another stellar night in the Edmonton Oilers’ goal, making 45 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Place on Monday night.
Koskinen has 142 saves on 147 shots in his last four appearances.
LISTEN: Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen speaks following the teams lose
“We’re just playing a disconnected game,” head coach Dave Tippett said of the Oilers. “Our execution is so poor in a lot of different situations–and some of that is just pure getting the play made, some of it is guys on their own page, going to their own spots and thinking they can vary from the game plan.”
Oilers forward Alex Chiasson tipped an Oscar Klefbom point shot past Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to open the scoring nine minutes into the first. It was Chiasson’s third goal in his last four games.
Late in the first, Vegas’ Nicolas Roy got a piece of Nate Schmidt’s shot for a power play goal to make it 1-1. The Golden Nights outshot the Oilers 15-3 in the first.
READ MORE: Mikko Koskinen brilliant again in Edmonton Oilers victory over Columbus
The second period was scoreless with Vegas once again carrying the play.
“We went through a stretch like this in December and found a way to get out of it,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “Obviously without goaltending like we’ve had the last little while it’d be a different story, but we’re in a good spot, we’ve found ways to get out of playing like this before so we’ve got to keep doing that and find a way.”
LISTEN: Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins comments
Koskinen came up with up several big saves. Along the way, the Oilers went 18:18 without recording a shot on goal. They finally wound up with 11 shots in the second and showed some life in the last seven minutes of the period.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers’ rally falls short in Chicago
Seven minutes into the third, Edmonton’s Kailer Yamamoto swept the puck away from Tomas Nosek behind the Vegas night, allowing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to pot his 22nd goal of the season.
With 8:03 to go, the Knights’ Reilly Smith set up Jonathan Marchessault for a chip shot over Koskinen’s right shoulder.
Edmonton defenceman Ethan Bear had a chance to win it a minute into overtime but Fleury got across to make the save.
Vegas defenceman Shea Theodore put a one-timer top shelf to end it with 2:47 left in the extra session.
“I thought we played well,” Theodore said. “There were definitely a couple of defensive mistakes that led to their goals and I think that’s something we can clean up. But I think, when you look at our overall game, I thought it was great and it was a good finish.”
“When you play that team you have to have possession of the puck in order to put them in that spot,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “I thought we did a great job in overtime of getting possession, keeping it and getting fresh bodies out there. We got them stuck in a bad spot and we got a huge save at the one end and we found a way to stick one in.”
The Golden Knights moved three points up on Edmonton for first in the NHL’s Pacific Division.
“It’ll be a good adversity test for us,” Chiasson said. “There’s what, 10 games left in the Season? Let’s find a way for our group to create some momentum and feel good about our game. That’s where we’re at.”
LISTEN: Alex Chiasson speaks following Oilers 3-2 lose.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid missed the game with an illness.
The Oilers (37-24-9) will host Winnipeg on Wednesday.
Watch below: Some videos from Global News’ coverage of the Edmonton Oilers’ 2019-20 season.
-
![]()
Edmonton Oilers taking precautions amid coronavirus concerns -
![]()
Edmonton Oilers set to take on Minnesota Wild -
![]()
McDavid inches closer to return from injury -
![]()
Connor McDavid out 2-3 weeks with quad injury: Edmonton Oilers GM -
![]()
Oilers get ready to face Preds on Saturday -
![]()
Tyler Benson to make his debut with Edmonton Oilers -
![]()
Are the Edmonton Oilers mentally tough? -
![]()
Edmonton Oilers look to return to winning ways in 2020
Comments