After trio of Oilers goals, it’s straight Jackets
BLUE JACKETS 7, OILERS 3
Who would have guessed that on Edmonton Oilers Fan Appreciation Night, the biggest giveaway would go to the other team?
OK, the way this season has gone, there were probably a few skeptics who saw this coming — but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach.
An evening that began according to script — with the Oilers paying tribute to their longsuffering fans with a quick 3-0 lead — deteriorated into one of the biggest collapses of the year.
The Columbus Blue Jackets scored seven straight goals to post a 7-3 victory that sucked the life out of the building and brought a streaking Oilers team crashing back to Earth.
With the Oilers up 3-0 by the 10-minute mark, it looked at first like the Oilers were going to improve to 8-2-2 in their last 12 by hanging another rout like the 7-2 beating they laid on Columbus in December.
Connor McDavid picked up his 100th point by assisting on a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goal at 3:37, then scored short-handed two minutes after that for his 40th goal of the season to make it 2-0. Halfway through the period, Drake Caggiula picked a top corner on the power play to make it 3-0, with an assist from McDavid.
McDavid had three points for 102, Edmonton scored at even strength, short-handed and on the power play, and the rout was on — for about two minutes. Then came the collapse.
The Oilers team defence was abysmal. In just four minutes and one second, the game was somehow tied. Thomas Vanek at 12:39. Artemi Panarin at 13:31 and Vanek again at 16:40. What? Inexplicably, it was 3-3 at the intermission.
It got worse. Boone Jenner scored 1:38 into the second and it was 4-3. Cam Atkinson made it 5-3, spelling the end for Cam Talbot, who got zero support from his defence. Laurent Brossoit came on in relief and stopped seven of nine.
The goaltending change made little difference as Vanek made it 6-3 with his hat trick goal at 15:02.
Columbus defenceman Markus Nutivaara finished the job, padding the lead to 7-3.