Self-inflicted wounds helped to derail a solid Senators road performance, handing the Oilers a comeback victory in Edmonton.
For the first two periods on Tuesday night in Edmonton, the Senators generally played an excellent road game. They took a 4-2 lead into the third period, but then failed to hold on for the win.
On the one hand, you give full credit to Leon Draisaitl, his five-point night, and the rest of the Oilers for clawing their way back into the game. They entered the game behind the Senators in the overall standings, and no longer appear to be a Cup contender, but they still have the firepower to do what they did on Tuesday.
On the other hand, Edmonton's Evan Bouchard probably never gets an opportunity to score the winner in overtime if not for four big moments in the game that changed its trajectory.
Scoring On Their Own Net
You might go ten years without seeing another goal like this one. As a puck trickled to the front of Ottawa's net, Drake Batherson tried to smack a puck through a clearly open seam to get it out of harm's way. Nick Jensen, who was scrambling to get back into position, arrived just in time to not only block Batherson's clearing attempt but also deflect it into his own net.
The Laughable Icing Call
With the Senators clinging to a one-goal lead in the final two minutes, they lobbed the puck down the ice, and Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm managed to make it look like icing to a gullible linesman. It may be Oscar season, but Ekholm won't be up for best actor for his role as a player who's trying to make an effort. But icing was called anyway, and the Sens' tired crew couldn't change.
With their net empty, the Oilers got the tying goal shortly after the ensuing faceoff.
Pinto's Unforced Puck Over Glass
Early in the third, with the Sens still up by two, Pinto got the puck caught up in his skates in the offensive zone, but when he found it, he still had all day to make a play. But originally losing track of the puck must have created some panic, as he then lobbed the puck over the glass. Based on the trajectory of the puck, it almost looked like he was trying to give a fan a souvenir rather than trying to chip the puck up ice and out of the zone.
The Oilers scored on the ensuing power play to cut the lead to one.
Tkachuk's Tackle On McDavid
After Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle couldn't connect on a scoring attempt in overtime, they were caught behind the play, with Connor McDavid carrying the puck back the other way with Draisaitl on a potential 2-on-1.
Tkachuk was in a position to hustle back and had time to catch Draisaitl and cover him, but he wasn't catching McDavid, not legally anyway. He tackled McDavid in one of the most obvious penalties of the Sens' season. It was called holding, but they could have applied four or five other infractions to the mugging.
The Oilers scored on the ensuing power play to win the game.
There were a few other troubling moments in the game you could point to that were also tactical in nature. Ridly Greig (0/3 in faceoffs on the night) sent out to take the overtime defensive zone draw in a 4-on-3 after a timeout?
And Ullmark, with the Oilers working the puck back and forth up high, still virtually standing on his goal line on the game-winning one-timer from the point?
Edmonton newcomer Connor Murphy didn't play, but in an otherwise solid road game, Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) still seemed to be in full effect for the Senators.
And it's absolutely the worst time of the year for that.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News