Edmonton Oilers head coach Dave Tippett’s summary of how his team played Tuesday night was direct and to the point.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” he said after the game.
Despite two goals in 73 seconds, the Oilers fell to the Red Wings 4-2 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit to snap a four-game winning streak.
Stuart Skinner, making his first start of the season in goal for the Oilers, made several big saves early to keep the game scoreless. He was finally beaten with six minutes left in the first when Red Wings forward Vlad Namestnikov cut in from the right side and fired home a wrist shot.
“There were lots of puck coming at him early on, he played very well,” remarked Tippett.
Namestnikov struck again in the second, banging home a rebound.
Later, Skinner misplayed the puck at the side of the net. Detroit forward Dylan Larkin swooped in, stole it and tapped the puck into the empty cage to make it 3-0 Detroit.
“Believe it or not, I’ve made a worse play before in my career,” said Skinner, who made 35 saves in a losing cause, “and we ended up winning the game.”
Toward the end of the second, the tide turned in the Oilers’ favour. Jesse Puljujarvi put the Oilers on the board, sniping one by Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic on a breakaway with 35 seconds to go.
Just 38 seconds into third, captain Connor McDavid found the back of the net, cutting the Detroit lead to one.
Moritz Seider scored a late empty-net goal to put the Wings up 4-2, which is how the game ended.
Oilers winger Zack Kassian didn’t return to the game after suffering a lower-body injury in the first period.
The Oilers (9-2) will play in Boston on Thursday. The game is on 630 CHED with the Faceoff Show at 3:30 p.m. The game will start at 5 p.m.
–With files from David Boles, 630 CHED