Another Loss For The Edmonton Oilers Against The Senators
For the second time in the month of January the Edmonton Oilers lost to the Ottawa Senators. Although this game was better played by the Oilers, it still wasn’t a good effort. Throughout the whole game you could tell that the Senators wanted this game more than the Oilers.
The Edmonton Oilers had a fairly good start to the game getting several chances early, but were unable to put one in the back of the net. Then just like the rest of the season the Oilers gave up the first goal. The good news is it took less than a minute for Connor McDavid to tie the game back up with a goal I know Matt Murray would love to have back.
The Ottawa Senators then took the lead again on a powerplay goal near the end of the 2nd period. This is an area where the Edmonton Oilers need to improve on, their penalty kill. It has been terrible as of late, and giving up 1 goal on 2 chances last night doesn’t help.
Then just about halfway through the third period the Edmonton Oilers were able tie it up. The play started as a 2 on 1 with Derek Ryan and Zach Hyman, then Ryan did a slick pass to the trailing Darnell Nurse who shoots it into the empty net. Murray had zero chance to save this one.
At Least The Edmonton Oilers Got 1 point
Going into overtime with the Edmonton Oilers used to be a guarantee win, now not so much. Dave Tippett has gone away from the McDavid-Draisaitl pairing and started to go McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins to start OT. That wasn’t the issue though in this OT. The main issue was Nurse’s shift length. He was out there for a more than 2 minute shift. You could tell on the game winning goal that he was tired, because he played Tim Stützle quite softly, and appeared to by trying to break up a pass that wasn’t there.
Mikko Koskinen on the OT goal also may wish to have that one back. It was a good shot by Stützle, but Koskinen is 6′ 7″ tall. He should have been in a position so that the puck should have almost no chance of going in form that angle.
Highlights
Post-Game Audio
"I think it was a winnable game if we capitalized on some chances but we didn't so we move on."
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) February 1, 2022
Coach Tippett speaks following tonight's OT loss.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/JM2bJmxbf1
Have To Move On Fast
The Edmonton Oilers can’t sit on this loss for to long. They are back on the ice tomorrow as they take on the Washington Capitals in Washington. The Capitals are playing some good hockey, so the Edmonton Oilers are going to need to bring a better effort than they did against Ottawa if they want a chance to win.