2) Fast start turns into a slow finish
Rewind a few hours, and the game couldn’t have began much better for the Oilers. Unlike the lacklustre effort in Philadelphia, they started with renewed purpose and heart versus the Jets.
The result was a goal just 1:25 into the contest, courtesy of Darnell Nurse firing home his first of the season. He was set up wonderfully by McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
The star duo were at it again less than five minutes later, this time combining during a power play to provide Evan Bouchard with his own first goal of the campaign. With a 2-0 lead on home ice after just 6:11 of the first period, the rout looked on.
Unfortunately for the Oilers and their fans, fate had other ideas. The Jets responded with a power play goal of their own at the 10:18 mark of the first period, to halve the home side’s advantage to 2-1.
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The goals dried up after this, although the Oilers seemed to be in a promising position on another power play, as time was ticking down in the second period. Instead, disaster struck.
Stuart Skinner — who for the most part was solid on the night — came drifting out of his crease when it really wasn’t necessary. The miscalculation proved fatal, as he couldn’t get back in time and Vladislav Namestnikov tied the game at 2-2 with a short-handed goal.
The Oilers would dominate the third period, as evidenced by a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal. However, they could not capitalize and went into overtime sans McDavid.
Skinner made some key saves in the extra period, but ultimately he only delayed the inevitable. Scheifele completed the comeback with just 1:07 left in overtime and the Oilers had gone from a seemingly certain win, to having to settle for one point.