Edmonton Oilers: Takeaways from OT Loss to Penguins

The Edmonton Oilers looked a lot stronger, but ultimately fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1 in overtime Tuesday.

On the surface, the game appeared to be a battle between two highly-skilled goaltenders. Cam Talbot and Matt Murray were outstanding in net.

Ian Cole finally got past Talbot early in the third period, giving the Penguins a 1-0 lead until the final minutes of regulation, where Connor McDavid scored on a quick shot that beat Murray. Patrick Maroon and Oscar Kelfbom picked up the helpers.

The game then went to overtime, where a failed Edmonton scoring attempt led to a 2-on-1 for Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, who then fired the puck past Talbot. The Oilers would fall, but get one point and advance to 2-5-1 on the year.

Edmonton Oilers

Standout Players

McDavid has a strong game with a goal and five shots, and also appeared to be one of the team’s top forwards. Milan Lucic and Patrick Maroon both had three shots on goal and did their due diligence to produce offence.

Leon Draisaitl appeared to somewhat ease in his return. He started off on the third line with Drake Caggiula and Mark Letestu, but eventually moved up to play with McDavid. He finished the game with a shot and a hit, but was moving his legs and adjusting back after sitting out for four games. Caggiula was also solid with a shot and three hits in 17 minutes of ice time.

Talbot was by far Edmonton’s best player, with an outstanding performance between the ps. He stopped 42 of 44 shots and quieted Sidney Crosby and a number of the Penguins’ star players. Overall, he appeared poised between the pipes and was quick in the crease, and also read and followed the play well. Not only that, he stopped 42 of the Penguins’ 44 shots and was only stifled on plays where he was somewhat left to dry.

Moving Forward

Mark Letestu was the only centre able to win over half of his face-offs, boasting a 62 percent success rate in the dot. If Edmonton wants to create more chances and have more control over the puck, they need to work on winning draws and starting the play with the puck on their sticks.

Also, the defence needs to do more for Talbot; he saved the Oilers on multiple occasions and bailed them out, and they didn’t block many shots, nor did they do too much to limit Pittsburgh’s chances.

Next: Caggiula, Draisaitl Should Spark Offence

Overall, there are still small areas of Edmonton’s game that needs tweaking if they want to win. Still, this wasn’t a terrible performance, and they got a point out of it.