Oilers regret 'missed opportunities' as winning streak ends at 16
LAS VEGAS — Chandler Stephenson scored the starting shot, Adin Hill stopped 30 shots and the Vegas Golden Knights brought an end to that Edmonton Oilers' 16-game winning streak with a 3:1 win at Tuesday evening.
Edmonton wanted to balance the 1992–93 season Pittsburgh Penguins for the longest NHL winning streak.
Instead, with the game tied 1-1 after two periods, Stephenson picked off a pass Jonathan Marchessault and fired a shot from the center of the left circle to beat the Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner Blocker side to give the Golden Knights a one-goal lead less than two minutes into the third period.
From there, Hill did a spectacular job of keeping the Oilers at bay while keeping the crowd energized until the final whistle.
“I liked a lot of parts of our game,” the Edmonton captain said Connor McDavid, who scored in the defeat, said. “I thought it was a similar game that we played the whole time. We just couldn't find a way to get a win. Their goalie played well and made some big saves.”
Hill, who led the NHL in goals-against average (1.94) and save percentage (.936), made the save of the night when he failed Leon Draisaitl on a backdoor one-timer late in the third period.
Nic Roy and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights.
“Unfortunately we came up a little short,” said Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch. “I think a big turning point in the game was the late goal [Vegas] scored a goal in the first period. And then it was just missed opportunities for us. I think the opportunities were there.”
Skinner made 23 saves in defeat, and Draisaitl and Vincent Desharnais I collected help along the way.
“I felt like we couldn’t suppress our chances,” the Edmonton defender said Mattias Ekholm said. “I felt like we created a lot in the second part [period], probably deserves a goal or two. In these close games, these little details, these timely goals, are of great importance.”
The Oilers, who opened the season 3-9-1 before firing coach Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12, were just 13-15-1 before their winning streak began. Edmonton had not lost a game since December 19th and improved its record to 29-16-1.
The Oilers are 26-7-0, the NHL's best record since Kris Knoblauch's first game as reserve coach on Nov. 13.
“There were some mishaps, it wasn’t a perfect game,” said Knoblauch. “But overall I thought the performance was good and we just couldn’t take our chances.”
Edmonton was undeterred by committing the first penalty. After Desharnais' poke check forced a turnover to spark a 2-on-0 rush, McDavid took a pass from Draisaitl and beat Hill to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal.
It was McDavid's 10th goal and 27th point during the Oilers' 17-game series.
“We have to keep going,” McDavid said. “We have to play good hockey here.”
Vegas tied the game when Roy collected a rebound from the goal crease, worked the puck onto his backhand and fired it past Skinner for his 10th goal of the season.
“It felt like a playoff game tonight,” Hill said. “It was loud, the fans were excited, so there was a good atmosphere.”
Karlsson's no-goal goal with 34 seconds left ended the game for Vegas.
“It was a close game, it could have gone either way,” said Ekholm. “I thought we played pretty well, [but] Our game is on another level.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
