Edmonton Oilers give up three in third in loss to Devils

The New Jersey Devils scored two goals seven seconds apart late in the third to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 Thursday night at Rogers Place.

The Devils have won five in a row while the Oilers had their winning streak snapped at five.

“We obviously gave ourselves a chance to win. You’ve to play the full 60 minutes,” Connor McDavid said after the game.

“I thought we had some really good moments in the game,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said. “But I still think there’s things we have to clean up with some of our puck decisions and we gave up two face-off goals that can’t happen.”

The Oilers took the lead 9:20 into the first. Darnell Nurse broke up a two-on-one, sending Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid on a two-on-one the other way. Hyman fed McDavid for his twelfth of the season. Miles Wood took advantage of a neutral zone turnover to make it 1-1 about three minutes later.

“We made a few young mistakes tonight and that’s part of learning how to manage yourself at the NHL level,” Woodcroft added.

Eight minutes into the second, Derek Ryan scored for the second straight game when he tipped in a shot by Tyson Barrie. Devils goalie MacKenzie Blackwood left the game less than a minute later after stretching to make a save on an Oilers power play. On the same advantage, Leon Draisaitl beat Vitek Vanecek to make it 3-1 Edmonton.

“Being up 3-1 going into the third, we would’ve liked to have closed it out with more authority,” Woodcroft said. “We had chances to improve our lead—it didn’t go our way—so we’re going to have to learn from the mistakes we made tonight.”

Wood scored off a faceoff 1:14 into the third to pull the Devils within one. New Jersey kept the pressure on and finally tied it with 3:15 left when Ryan Graves’ shot trickled through Stuart Skinner. Off the ensuing centre ice face-off, John Marino sprung Jesper Bratt on a breakaway to put the Devils ahead.

“That’s a play we know. We try to do it to teams occasionally,” Oilers defenceman Tyson Barrie said. “You’ve just got to be aware of it and unfortunately they caught us at an important time of the game with a good play.”

“It’s my job — I’ve got to be able to make as many saves as I can and it’s my job to make that save, especially in a 3-3 game,” Skinner said.

“It was a nice shot — post and in — but I’ve got work to do and I can make that save.”

Before the game, Lee Fogolin and Ryan Smyth were inducted into the Oilers Hall of Fame.

The Oilers, 7-4, will host Dallas on Saturday (Face-off Show at 12:30 p.m., game at 2 p.m.).

–With files from Brenden Escott, 630 CHED