Edmonton Oilers: Instant reaction to team’s 4-1 loss vs Dallas Stars

The Edmonton Oilers couldn’t get anything going offensively, dropping the first game of their three-game road trip in Dallas by a 4-1 final score.

After sweeping both games of a quick two-game homestand, the Edmonton Oilers set off on a three-game road trip, with the Dallas Stars up first on the docket. Unfortunately, the Oilers couldn’t do anything against Dallas’ defense.

Goal Breakdown:

DAL – Hintz (6) (Power Play), Assists: Klingberg (4), Radulov (7)

DAL – Robertson (4) (Power Play), Assists: Klingberg (5), Hintz (4)

DAL – Gurianov (3), Assists: Heiskanen (11), Klingberg (6)

EDM – McLeod (3), Assists: Puljujarvi (9), Draisaitl (18)

DAL – Glendening (5), Assists: Suter (7)

Stats

Goals: 

EDM: 1

DAL: 4

Shots On Goal: 

EDM: 22

DAL: 33

Hits:

EDM: 13

DAL: 13

Faceoff Percentage: 

EDM: 39.7%

DAL: 60.3%

Power Plays: 

EDM: 0/2

DAL: 2/5

Something to monitor among the D corps, Duncan Keith exited the game in the second period and did not return.

I would imagine the Oilers will recall someone from AHL Bakersfield if Keith is out for Wednesday’s game. Perhaps Markus Niemeläinen gets the nod?

Game Notes:

Young goaltending on display

It’s no surprise that both teams decided to start their hottest goaltenders. The young netminders have been great in a limited sample size this season.

Stuart Skinner is getting an extended look after Mike Smith‘s injury setback, and Jake Oettinger started all three of the Stars’ previous games.

However, it was the Stars who got two power play goals past Skinner exactly five minutes apart in the first period.

Then in the second period, Denis Gurianov came screaming into the o-zone, beating the Oilers’ netminder with a backhand shot five-hole.

Skinner made a couple of big-time saves in the middle frame to keep the Oilers in the game, including this outstanding stop.

In all, Skinner stopped 29-of-33 shots face to Oettinger’s 21-of-22 saves.

Connor McDavid vs Miro Heiskanen lived up to the hype

Coming into this one, I was excited to see the game’s best offensive player against arguably the league’s best defensive player.

Something had to give here.

Connor McDavid initially looked like he was going to best his Rangers or Jets’ goals, but Miro Heiskanen did a great job with the gap control, poke-checking the puck harmlessly into the corner.

Here’s the play that I am referencing.

And that was pretty much the case all evening.

McDavid’s point streak ends

Tied to the previous takeaway, but the Stars did a great job of walling up the Oilers’ offense at the blueline, making it difficult for them to get much of anything going.

As such, Connor McDavid’s impressive 17-game point streak came to an end on Tuesday. He came close to extending the streak, rocketing a one-timer with under a minute to play. Unfortunately, the shot went high over the crossbar.

The Oilers are back at it on Wednesday in Arizona, with puck drop set for 8 pm MT.