The Edmonton Oilers winning streak ended at 16 games as they were beaten 3-1 by the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday night.
The Oilers jumped ahead 4:35 into the game on a two-on-nothing while shorthanded. Leon Draisaitl set up Connor McDavid for his 21st of the season. The Golden Knights tied it late in the first when Nicolas Roy stuffed a rebound behind Stuart Skinner.
Edmonton had a 13-7 advantage in shots on goal in the second period but couldn’t beat Adin Hill.
Evander Kane was all alone in front of Hill early in the third, but he couldn’t chip the puck past the Vegas goalkeeper. Just 20 seconds later, Chandler Stephenson ripped a shot over Skinner’s right shoulder to make it 2-1 Golden Knights. Draisaitl one-timed a pass from Mattias Ekholm on a three-on-two with less than eight minutes left, but Hill moved across for a pad save.
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With Skinner pulled for an extra attacker, William Karlsson put the game away with an empty netter.
“We couldn’t bear down on our chances. I thought we created a lot in the second. In these tight games, those timely goals matter in a big way and we saw it again tonight”, Mattias Ekholm said.
The Oilers will settle for the second longest winning streak in NHL history, equaling the 2016/17 Columbus Blue Jackets. The 1992/93 Pittsburgh Penguins won 17 in a row.
“We had a lot of things go right,” McDavid said reflecting on the streak. “Winning 16 straight you got to have a lot of things go well. I thought we earned our bounces, and earned our luck.”
“Just missed opportunities. Whether it was goal posts, the goalie coming up big, or missing an empty net. I think the chances were there and it was probably one of our better games in the last two or three weeks,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said.
Hill finished with 30 saves. Skinner made 23.
The Oilers, 29-16-1, will visit the Anaheim Ducks on Friday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 6:30 p.m., game at 8 p.m.).
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