Too many turnovers see Oilers blow lead to Rangers in OT loss: Recap, Highlights, and Reaction

Late on a power play midway through the second period, the Oilers got their first lead of the game. Adam Henrique’s shot from in close was initially saved, and on the rebound, it bounced off Matthew Savoie’s leg for the rookie’s first career goal.

The Oilers extended their lead to two just over a minute later. Nurse’s shot from the goal line looked to be saved, but after a commercial break and a review, it was deemed that the puck went over the line.

Then, the collapse came. Midway through the third, Will Cuylle had a two-on-one, electing to bring the puck to the centre of the ice. The puck was knocked off his stick, but defenceman Braden Schneider followed up.

With just under eight minutes left in the game, Evan Bouchard turned the puck over at the line, and the Rangers took it the other way and beat Skinner. In overtime, J.T. Miller made a strong move to the middle of the ice, beating Skinner for the game-winner.

Takeaways…

You’d be hard-pressed to find a “good” loss, but this is a pretty good example of an awful loss. The Rangers came into this game struggling to score, so the Oilers should’ve coasted to a 3-1 victory. They didn’t, blowing that lead with 12 minutes left in the game and losing in overtime.

What’s even more painful is that the Oilers had a power play to end the third period and start overtime. They couldn’t get anything going, and the Rangers eventually won it. That said, the officials messed up: Jack Roslovic was clearly bleeding, yet they only gave the Oilers a two-minute power play.

That may have been Adam Henrique’s best game as an Oiler. Before the game, he was given the silver stick for reaching 1,000 games, and he picked up an assist on Matthew Savoie’s first career goal. This season, the veteran has two goals and six points in 12 games.

Darnell Nurse had a good game, scoring twice. This was his third multi-goal game, but he’s yet to score a hat-trick. He’s played well when paired with Jake Walman, who has a goal and seven points in six games. Walman is doing so well that he’s tied for fourth in points on the team with six fewer games than his cohorts.

After an encouraging game on Tuesday, the Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm pairing had another rough game. Bouchard’s point streak came to an end as well. It may be time to split the two players up.

Ike Howard had another solid game, picking up an assist on Nurse’s second goal of the game. Savoie picked up his first career goal, and being paired with Henrique has seemed to do wonders for both Savoie and Henrique.

Things were looking good for Stuart Skinner before the Oilers collapsed in the final 15 minutes of the game. In the end, he saved 30 of 34 shots for an .882 save percentage. Through eight games this season, Skinner has just two games with a save percentage above .900. Not great.

Next up for the Oilers is a Hockey Night in Canada matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks at 8:00 PM MT on Saturday. The Blackhawks have an identical record to the Oilers: five wins, four losses in regulation, and two losses in overtime or a shootout.