The Edmonton Oilers suffered their fifth straight loss Saturday night, falling 3-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes at Rogers Place.
With Zack Kassian in the box for the boarding, Sebastian Aho got stuck on his own rebound for a power play marker. It was the 14th time in the last 17 games that the Oilers allowed the first goal.
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The Hurricanes were up 2-0 on the middle distance wrist of Nino Niederreiter in the sixth minute of the second. The Oilers finally broke through midway through the second when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his third of the season.
Carolina applied tons of pressure at the end of the second. Tyson Barrie lifted Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s stick to save a goal. Less than 30 seconds later, Koskinen stopped Steven Lorentz hard. The Hurricanes outscored the Oilers 14-4 in the second.
“We tried to make plays, we tried to make it through (Andersen), but it was good,” Connor McDavid said. “We weren’t sharp enough on the net. Is that how it works.”
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During the Oilers’ second power play of the third, Zach Hyman missed an open net on the rebound from a Nugent-Hopkins shot. Seconds later, Connor McDavid was alone in the slot, but he fired wide.
“Our sense of urgency has to increase,” McDavid said after the game. “A good start gives us a losing streak, and we have taken advantage of our losing streak here.”
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With 2:44 remaining, Mikko Koskinen misplayed the puck behind his own net, giving Aho a tap-in goal.
“When you’re not scoring at the level you’d like, it magnifies that (mistake), too,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said. “We feel like we’re working really hard to reach our goals right now and then giving up an easy one and that drags the group down.”
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Hyman was slammed against the boards by Brady Skjei with just over three minutes left in the game and did not play another turn.
“They took him as a precaution against playing the rest of the game, but I haven’t spoken to him yet,” Tippett said, adding that he expects an update on Hyman’s status on Sunday.
The Oilers, 16-10, host Toronto on Tuesday.
With files from Brenden Escott, 630 CHED
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