Tuesday night was just one of those games for the Edmonton Oilers, as they dominated the team with the best record in the league, but with little success. No matter how you break the shot count down, they were clearly on top of the Washington Capitals, but still ultimately lost 3-2.
Shots on goal? The Oilers had a 32-14 advantage over the Capitals. Grade A shots? A 16-8 edge. It just didn't matter though, as Logan Thompson had an excellent performance which saw him save 30 of 32 shots and deservedly get named Second Star of the Game. (In fact, you can argue he should really have been awarded the First Star.)
So it is with a sense of irony, that one of the two times the Oilers did actually take advantage of their superiority in chances on goal, that they succeeded despite some unusual extra activity on the ice. And it came just after the Capitals had increased their lead to 3-1 less than four minutes into the third period.
Flying down the ice past flying nachos no hassle for Corey Perry
Possibly frustrated after seen his team fall behind by two goals, a fan did the unthinkable by throwing a tray of nachos onto the ice while play was live. Fortunately for the Oilers, Corey Perry was unfazed by the bizarre turn of events, as he skated around the nachos and fired home past Thompson to get his team back to within 3-2 effectively a minute after the Capitals had scored, albeit ultimately it didn't matter.
After the game, Perry was understandably asked about the nacho incident, with the surprise being that he wasn't surprised by what happened, but with a caveat. As per Sportsnet, he said:
"I didn't even see them, honestly. Whether they were there before, whatever, I was focused on the play and [Leon Draisaitl] made a great play."
Thompson a good sport under the circumstances
As for Thompson, he was able to smile, although we imagine he would have had a different response if the Capitals had gone on to lose the game. Also as per Sportsnet, he said:
"I've never seen nachos and cheese on the ice. It's a weak goal on my part, I kind of stopped playing. I was distracted, I've never seen that before... It is what it is."
Of course, away from the comedy value of the incident, is the reality that the Oilers have now lost two regulation games in a row for the first time since early November. They will now look to get back on track on Thursday night in a highly anticipated rematch at home with the Vancouver Canucks, sans Connor McDavid.