Oilers blow two-goal lead as Blues snap seven game losing streak: Recap, Highlights, and Reaction

They extended that lead to two early in the second period, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found a trailing Andrew Mangiapane, who scored on a one-timer to take a 2-0 lead.

It all went downhill from there, though. With just under four minutes left in the second period, the Blues scored their first goal of the game on the power play. Dalibor Dvorský was found at the faceoff dot, one-timing it past Pickard.

The Blues tied the game with just under 90 seconds left in the second period, as Phillip Broberg’s shot missed the net, but the deflection popped out on the other side, allowing Robert Thomas to bury it into the open net.

In the final 90 seconds of the game, the Blues found the game-winner. Colton Parayko’s shot was stopped, but Pius Suter pounced on the rebound to beat Pickard, giving the Blues a 3-2 lead.

Takeaways…

It’s nice that the Oilers have found their top-six forward core, at least for now. Andrew Mangiapane has played well with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid, while Jack Roslovic has found a home with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin. Of course, the lines will need to be shuffled once Zach Hyman returns at some point this month.

Both Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid had two-assist games. Through 14 games, Nugent-Hopkins has five goals and 15 points, while McDavid has three goals and 19 points. Nugent-Hopkins,as the Oilers’ third-line centre makes the team incredibly deep, but his chemistry with McDavid is fantastic.

Adam Henrique’s strong start to the season has continued. Playing alongside Trent Frederic and Matt Savoie, the trio finished the game with a 63.78 xGF%. Going forward, it’d be nice to see these three stick together, perhaps as a fourth line whenever Hyman returns.

The pairing of Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm continues to struggle, though, which is a bit concerning given Ekholm’s extension and Bouchard’s salary. That said, Darnell Nurse and Jake Walman have found some chemistry since Walman has returned from injury.

This game featured another multi-goal blown lead. The last one came last Thursday, where they had a 3-1 lead midway through the third period against the New York Rangers, just to close 4-3 in overtime. They can’t be doing this anymore as Stanley Cup contenders.

Calvin Pickard had a rough game, allowing three goals on 22 total shots for an .864 save percentage. His season save percentage now sits at .846, and it could be time to consider recalling Connor Ingram.

Next up for the Oilers is a tough game against the Dallas Stars at 6:00 PM MT.