For a second consecutive game, the Edmonton Oilers fell three goals behind in the opening period on the road. However, whereas they were able to recover and beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 last time out, on this occasion they fell short 3-2 against the Vancouver Canucks.
Certainly it was a surprise result, in so much as the Canucks have been poor on home ice this season, combined with only winning four of their previous 16 games. Meanwhile, the Oilers entered Saturday night in a rich vein of form, having won four straight and eight of their past nine contests.
Make no mistake in stating the Canucks deserved to win on a night where they just wanted it more and the Oilers just didn't seem up for the battle. The home team had a 27-15 advantage in shots on goal, outhit their Edmonton rivals 18-9 and won 57.7 percent of the faceoffs.
However, despite the defeat, it's only one game for a team which is still on an overall excellent run of form following a 10-9-2 start to the 2024-25 season. No, the bigger loss could potentially be Connor McDavid, for one or possibly two games through suspension.
No need for Connor McDavid to receive a match penalty
The reason for this is due to an incident right at the end of Saturday night's contest, when McDavid was assessed a match penalty and kicked out of the game due to a crosscheck on Conor Garland. It was an entirely avoidable situation, and not just because the Oilers captain shouldn't have done it.
No, it was also entirely avoidable because of what Garland was doing to McDavid in the lead-up to the penalty, holding him down on the ice for way longer than was necessary or right. Number 97 was clearly frustrated, not helped by the reality the officials should have called Garland for a penalty before the Oilers superstar had a chance to respond how he did.
In fact Garland should have already been called for three or four penalties on the night, just because of how he treated McDavid in general. That the Canucks winger wasn't, basically comes down to horrific officiating.
This resulted in a heated scuffle between the two teams, which led to Tyler Myers also receiving a match penalty and kicked out of the game, for crosschecking Evan Bouchard. There really was no need for it all, and it was caused by the lack of common sense by the officials.
Oilers coach defends Connor McDavid
With McDavid understandably not speaking to the media postgame, it was up to his coach to explain what happened and why. As per Jamie Umbach of NHL.com, Kris Knoblauch said:
"There's a rivalry. Connor gets frustrated. He gets his stick up and he's frustrated, because we're down one goal and the best player in the league is getting held for 15 seconds. There's frustration that that's allowed to happen, and his stick got up. So that's what happened.""
Leon Draisaitl was the Oilers' only real bright spot on the night, as he scored the two goals which made a game of it against the Canucks. He now has 33 goals on the season and holds a six-goal lead over his nearest competitors as of Sunday morning.
Ultimately thought, the Oilers were always second-best on the night, as Knoblauch went on to break down why they lost. He said:
"Two penalties and two power-play goals were a big part of it. Giving up those two were the difference in the game. We were able to get one power play and a power-play goal, and we lost by one. Usually, special teams are the difference of a hockey game."
Again though, the bigger concern is that McDavid may now miss the next one or two games, which are against the Capitals and then the Canucks again. Anytime a player is kicked out of a game, this automatically leads to a review by the league office, so it will be hoped they use more common sense than the officials did on Saturday night.