The Edmonton Oilers five-game winning streak came to a crashing halt with a 7-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild Sunday night at Rogers Place.
It was the Oilers’ first loss since Jay Woodcroft took over as head coach.
“We didn’t have much jump today,” Leon Draisaitl said after the game. “We got off to a really bad start and this league is obviously too hard to come back from a 4-0 deficit.”
It was a dreary start to the game to the Oilers as the Wild scored four in the first 13:38. Kevin Fiala had two with Brandon Duhaime and Joel Eriksson Ek also scoring. Mike Smith was pulled after allowing the four goals on seven shots.
“It was too many grade A (chances), whether it was breakaways or two-on-ones, it’s tough to give your goalie those looks that early in the game,” Darnell Nurse said.
The Oilers got a bit of life late in the first when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found Evander Kane for a power play goal.
“The schedule is what it is. That’s why you have a structure in place, to protect the individuals during tough circumstances,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said of the team’s fifth game in seven nights. “In between periods we talked about sticking together and grinding through those tough circumstances. Nobody was pointing fingers. There were no ‘independent contractors’ out there. I thought we ground through it as a team and we’re going to use it as a growth opportunity going forward,” the interim bench boss added.
In the second, Dmitry Kulikov’s point shot was tipped by Connor Dewar. The puck hit the post but came back off Mikko Koskinen’s pad and dribbled into the net. Matt Boldy make it 6-1. Late in the second, Tyler Benson pounded a loose puck behind Kaapo Kahkonen for his first NHL goal.
“I’m sure he would’ve liked it to be in a tighter game but, regardless, this is a special moment for a young player and hopefully his family was here tonight and got to watch,” Draisaitl said.
“I don’t think anybody’s walking out of the building tonight feeling great about our team performance, but on an individual basis, he’s going to feel good about it and try to build on that as he moves forward,” Woodcroft said of Benson’s goal.
Mats Zuccarello scored on a breakaway five-and-a-half minutes into the third. Zach Hyman scored on a backhand with just over one minute left to round out the scoring.
The Oilers, 28-19-3, will open a five-game road trip against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.
With files from Brenden Escott, 630 CHED.