OILERS EDGED IN OVERTIME
Pens’ Kessel pots the winner
PITTSBURGH That’s right, the Edmonton Oilers-Pittsburgh Penguins game played out just the way everyone hyped it: Cam Talbot versus Matt Murray.
OK, maybe that’s not exactly what the marquee was flashing outside PPG Arena Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, but that’s the way it turned out as Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby took a back seat to one of the best goaltending duels of the season.
Talbot and Murray were having none of the original script, which called for McDavid and Crosby to light up the scoreboard like a pinball machine. Instead, the goalies stole the show in what would have been a wild shootout if they hadn’t been the best two players on the ice.
It was a thriller, nonetheless, that needed overtime to break a 1-1 tie, and Phil Kessel did the breaking on a two-on-one with Evgeni Malkin just 42 seconds in.
“If we would have been told we would have given up five goals in three games, I would have thought we had a pretty good chance of getting away with more than three points,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan, whose club finished the road trip 1-1-1. “But that’s the way it’s going for us right now.”
The other Pittsburgh goal came early in the third, when Ian Cole put a wrist shot through a crowd of bodies and inside the post. Talbot, who stopped 42 of 44 on the night, couldn’t have seen if he had two heads.
McDavid tied it with 2:53 left in regulation time with a bullet under the crossbar, but for the second game in a row, one goal
We just have to relax, calm down. We’re getting these chances in front of the net that should be automatic and we’re not scoring.
was not enough.
“You have to tip your hat to some good goalies who went at it tonight. Murray made some really good saves,” said Oilers winger Patrick Maroon.
“We just have to find some polish in here. There are some guys in here who have scored goals in this league, we just have to find ways to dust it off."
The Oilers only pulled three points out of Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh because they’ve developed a severe allergy to offence. They managed just four goals and haven’t had a lead in regulation time since the second game of the season, a span of 417 minutes.
“We had three or four open nets,” McLellan, whose club is second last in the NHL in goals per game (1.88), said with a sigh.
“Their goaltender made a couple of great saves, we missed on open nets. It’s almost like we’re squeezing it so tight, we’re either pausing or shooting it a little too quick.”
The Oilers couldn’t find the back of the net right now if you gave them Google Maps, a Sherpa guide and plopped them down in the blue paint.
“We just have to relax, calm down,” said McDavid.
“We’re getting these chances in front of the net that should be automatic and we’re not scoring, myself included. We have to be better in that area.
“(Goalie Talbot) is standing on his head, the defence is playing great, the forwards have to be better in that area.”
They’ll have nightmares about Murray for a while. He was outstanding, stopping 29 of 30 shots, none better than the diving paddle save on Mark Letestu that we’ll be seeing on plays of the year packages this December.
Meanwhile, Talbot allowed just four goals in regulation time on the trip, but returns home with just one win.
“They have to start going in eventually,” he said, referring to the other end of the ice.
“Murray made some great saves, and we missed some open nets and some good looks.
“They’re going to come eventually, I just have to keep focusing on what I’m doing and give us a chance.”
WELCOME BACK
Leon Draisaitl made his return after missing four games with post-concussion syndrome and looked fast and sharp in his first game back, playing 16:29 and getting bumped to the first line when Edmonton needed a late goal.
“Happy to see him out there, we definitely missed him,” said McDavid. “He’s one of the best players in the world, and when he’s not in the lineup, it’s obviously felt.”