Edmonton Oilers: Three key takeaways from team’s 4-2 loss vs Red Wings
The Edmonton Oilers were unable to erase a three-goal deficit on Monday, falling 4-2 to the Red Wings in the first game of their roadtrip.
Winners of their last 10 road games, the Edmonton Oilers suffered their second loss of the season on Monday night, falling 4-2 to the Detroit Red Wings.
Prior to the game, the team announced that Stuart Skinner would get the start between the pipes, giving Mikko Koskinen a mental break. With Devin Shore out for four to six weeks, forward Ryan McLeod was called up from Bakersfield of the AHL.
Here’s what Oilers’ head coach Dave Tippett had to say about both after the morning skate.
On McLeod
“He went down [to Bakersfield] and played a lot of key minutes. He’s going to get an opportunity on that fourth line, touch a little bit of the secondary power play, so we’ll see. He’s a good young player, we’ll give him another opportunity, and hopefully, he can grab it and run with it.”
On Skinner
“There was no training camp, no exhibition games, and it was basically his first NHL game out of the blue, so you didn’t know what you were going to get. Now, he’s had a body of work with training camp, exhibition games, and he’s played very well. From a coach’s standpoint, you have an idea of what you’re going to get.”
SOG
- DET: 39
- EDM: 33
FO
- DET: 48%
- EDM: 52%
PP
- DET: 0/2
- EDM: 0/2
Here are a few takeaways from the loss.
1. Slow start offensively, Skinner sharp early
The Oilers didn’t register their first shot on goal until nearly five minutes into the game. Stuart Skinner made a few nice saves, including one on Detroit’s third shot of the game where the home team had a couple of point-blank chances.
Edmonton was outshot 16-9 in the first period, with Detroit opening the scoring at the 14:03 mark. The Red Wings caught the Oilers in transition, with a 2-on-1 chance going through all three zones.
Vladislav Namestnikov shielded the puck just enough from Tyson Barrie, leaning toward the front of the net at the perfect time to beat Skinner.
Stuart Skinner said he felt like he belonged in the NHL after a performance like that. He said the third goal was a mishandle and felt it cost his team a chance to win.
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) November 10, 2021
Give credit to the Red Wings’ defense early on. They did a great job pinching and had good gap control that really frustrated Edmonton’s offense.
2. Three goal deficit again
For the second consecutive game, the Oilers found themselves down three goals. After falling behind 4-1 on Friday, Edmonton trailed 3-0 on Monday after Namestnikov’s second goal of the night made it 2-0.
Shortly after that, Skinner had a really unfortunate bounce trying to play the puck behind the net that led to a tap-in from Dylan Larkin while the Oilers goalie was trying to get back.
Coming into this game, Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett noted that his team couldn’t win trying to outscore their mistakes.
“The League is too good now,” he said. “As a team, we talk more about defending and playing the right way than we do about outscoring teams. If we think we’re just going to outscore everything, that’s not a way to be successful long-term.”
Dave Tippett clearly wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance. He said the Oilers got what they deserved being down 3-0. Not much of an update on Zack Kassian, who left the game in the first after playing just 3:20 due to a lower-body injury. Tippett doesn’t think it’s too bad.
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) November 10, 2021
3. Jesse Puljujärvi stays red-hot
Similar to Friday, Jesse Puljujärvi had a breakaway goal that jumpstarted the Oilers’ offense. After defenseman Slater Koekkoek blocked a shot attempt, the puck kicked back out toward the blue line, where Puljujärvi was off to the races the other way. The 23-year-old rocketed a wrister past Alex Nedeljkovic‘s glove side to put Edmonton on the board.
A Jesse goal did spark our last comeback... #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/6JmW3RBsOe
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 10, 2021
Puljujärvi has 13 points in 11 games this season, and he’s playing with all kinds of confidence right now. That extra year back in Finland during the 2019-20 season to kind of reset, so to speak, seems to have done wonders for him. Playing on the top line with Connor McDavid also probably isn’t a bad thing either.
Jesse Puljujarvi
— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) November 10, 2021
2020-21: 15 goals in 55 GP
2021-22: 6 goals in 11 GP
Speaking of McDavid, he scored the team’s second goal of the game, his ninth of the season. However, it wasn’t enough as Moritz Seider sealed it for the Red Wings, tallying an empty-netter to secure the 4-2 victory for Detroit.
“You just named it all right there, you just answered your own question,” Tippett said when asked if the loss was because of a lack of energy or lack of execution. “Not enough urgency, not enough execution. they came out and played a desperate first period.”
The Oilers (9-2-0) are back at it against the Boston Bruins (6-4) on Thursday, with puck drop set for 5:00 pm MT.