It felt inevitable that the Edmonton Oilers’ run of solid wins would, sooner or later, come to an end.
With a prime opportunity to create some separation from the Vegas Golden Knights in the standings—and with the Anaheim Ducks falling to the Calgary Flames—the hope was that the Edmonton Oilers wouldn’t stumble on Easter weekend.
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Instead, they laid an egg.
The Golden Knights handed Edmonton a 5–1 loss in a game head coach Kris Knoblauch said was largely lost off the rush.
The Oilers understood the assignment. Trent Frederic asked, “I mean, they could have been, what, a five-point difference? Now it’s probably what, one? Is that right?. So, yeah, pretty big.”
Despite understanding the stakes, Knoblauch called the team merely adequate. “… the story of the way we lost it was off the rush, giving up chances off the rush, whether it was a bad pinch, forwards not coming back… all four of their goals, and pretty much most of their chances off that,” he said.
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When asked if losing Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman was a game-breaker, he responded that they clearly miss those guys, but added, “I don’t think the chances we talked about giving up off the rush, Zach Hyman, Draisaitl, like any player should be able to do the responsibilities that we had tonight.”
McDavid and the Oilers lose 5-1 to the Golden Knights Photo by: © Perry Nelson Imagn Images
But, yes, the Oilers could have used two 50-goal scorers.
Edmonton’s power play was 0-3, and the Golden Knights got their fourth goal (the dagger) at the end of a missed chance to capitalize on the man advantage. The Oilers couldn’t and didn’t outscore their mistakes.
“I think we probably got away from the way that we know how to play,” said Jake Walman. “I thought it was a little… we were slow tonight, and that’s the result against a team like that.”
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Curtis Lazar looked on the bright side when he noted that the winning streak had ended: “But we get a chance to start a new one.”
The Oilers and the Golden Knights may meet again. “I think more importantly, we’re going against a team we’re probably going to see later down the line,” noted Walman. It won’t be in the regular season, but these are two teams that feel destined to see each other in the playoffs. If that happens, the intensity that popped at the end of the game and the 5-1 score shouldn’t sit well with the Oilers.
There weren’t many positives coming out of this game. Perhaps the only silver lining is that, should these two teams play each other again this season, this game will serve as a reminder about what happens when you don’t bring your A-game.
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