Instant Reaction +9.0: Oilers stunned by Golden Knights game-winning goal with 0.4 seconds left

The Oilers earned a power play midway through the first period, and with 8:47 left in the first period, Evan Bouchard’s shot from the point was deflected by Perry in front of the net for his second goal of the game, his fifth career multi-goal postseason game.

Unfortunately, the Oilers were unable to hold that lead. Leon Draisaitl was stripped in the neutral zone with just under five minutes in the first, leading to a two-on-one for the Golden Knights. That opportunity was eventually snuffed out, but a slapshot on the half boards by Nicolas Hague fooled Stuart Skinner, allowing Nicolas Roy to bat it in.

Less than a minute later, the Golden Knights tied it up. John Klingberg went out of position to make a hit, leaving Vasily Podkolzin on defence. Reilly Smith beat him with speed to earn an odd man rush, moving to the centre and slipping the puck between Skinner’s five hole for the tie game.

The score stood that way until late in the second, as the Golden Knights took their first lead of the game. Edmonton had a terrible line change after sustained zone time by the Golden Knights, allowing an odd-man rush. William Karlsson passed it to Noah Hanifin, who passed back to Karlsson, beating Skinner to make it 3-2.

Late in the third period, the Oilers won an offensive zone faceoff. McDavid threw the puck to the net and got a fortuitous bounce off Brayden McNabb’s skate to tie the game up at three.

It looked as if Game 3 was heading to overtime just like Game 2, but the Golden Knights had a last-ditch effort, as Karlsson threw the puck to the front of the net. Smith outwaited Skinner and threw it across the goalmouth. Leon Draisaitl tipped it in under the bar with four tenths of a second left in the game.

Takeaways…

The last-second goal needs to be addressed. Did the Oilers’ skaters play that right? Probably not, two players going to the ice is never ideal. But realistically, what the heck was Stuart Skinner doing on that goal? I’m not a mathematician, but that is not how you efficiently cut down an angle. That loss was 100% on Skinner, and he shouldn’t see the crease again this postseason.

In the series against the Los Angeles Kings, the momentum of the series changed after the Oilers scored, and Kings head coach Jim Hiller made a terrible coaches’ challenge. Let’s hope the same doesn’t happen thanks to the last-second goal.

Overall, that was probably the Oilers’ worst game this postseason. Connor McDavid’s goal toward the end of the game was rather fluky, which is fitting because aside from that, they barely generated any chances in the final two periods of the game. The Knights played stifling defence from the second period onward.

Corey Perry now has five goals in nine games, tying Leon Draisaitl for the team lead. Next Friday, the 2010-11 Hart Trophy winner turns 40 years old, but that didn’t stop him from scoring 19 goals in the regular season. If he wants to play another season, the Oilers would be wise to bring him back.

On the road this postseason, the Oilers are 0/12 on their power plays. At home, the Oilers are 6/8 on the man advantage, one of the weirder stats this postseason. They also killed off both penalties they took; the first time they were perfect on the penalty kill this series.

Well, Game 4 is an important one. The Oilers can either push the Golden Knights to the brink or head back to Vegas with the series tied. That game is on Monday at 7:30 PM MT. Hopefully, Calvin Pickard is back.