Recap: Canes Can't Contain Oilers

A high-scoring affair did not favor the Carolina Hurricanes, as they were bested 7-3 by the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at PNC Arena.
Brock McGinn, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Hurricanes, who fall to 31-31-11 on the season.
Here are five takeaways from tonight's game.

One
Simply put, this is certainly not how the Hurricanes wanted to follow up Sunday's win in Brooklyn. Playing against opponents well out of the playoff race in either conference, the Hurricanes had a chance to establish some momentum down the stretch of the season, even if their fate is similar. Tonight, though, they couldn't keep up with a potent Oilers offense, and any chance in snuffing the opponents' production was countered.
"We weren't playing good from the start right through the end. It wasn't a good effort from anybody, including myself," Jordan Staal said. "It's the work ethic and the effort. It just wasn't there."
"We've got to do a better job getting them ready to go," head coach Bill Peters said. "I don't think there's a guy in there who's proud of his game tonight."

Two
This one was scattered - and strange - from the start. Before the game was even 10 minutes old, the Oilers had a 3-1 lead.
The Canes got on the board first on a fluke play, as McGinn attempted a through-the-legs backhand pass in the slot that was fielded and put into his own net by Oilers defenseman Yohann Auvitu.

The Oilers then scored three straight goals, each one perhaps stranger than the one prior. Drake Caggiula was left open in the slot and Scott Darling had drifted out of the crease, and just like that it was 1-1. Two minutes later, Darling extended his left pad to make a great stop on Matt Benning, who then made an even better play to bat the rebound out of midair, off Darling's back and into the net. And not even three minutes later, Darling made another sharp left skate stop on Ryan Strome and scissored to cover the puck, only to see it squirt out and into the net.
"It got away early," Peters said. "We never really got a spark or engaged."
Three
The Canes would then twice bring it within a goal, with Aho scoring on the power play to make it a 3-2 game late in the first period and Teravainen's goal in the second making it 4-3. From there, though, the Hurricanes were never able to climb back into the contest.

"After one it was a one-goal game," Aho said. "We just have to play through it."
"When it gets loose it's because we're not playing our game. If we're not skating and working, our game is not going to work and we look a step behind. … When we're skating and going, we're on top of guys and don't give them much or time to make plays," Staal said. "Tonight was pretty much the exact opposite."
"I think it's on the team," Peters said. "It's on all of us - the coaches, the players, us as a group. We weren't good enough tonight."
Four
Aho and Teravainen remain a constant source of hope for the Hurricanes, even in this current stretch. The two are currently tied for the team lead in points (59); Aho has 26 goals and 33 assists in 69 games, while Teravainen has 22 goals and 37 assists in 73 games. That's career highs across the board for the Hurricanes' dynamic Finnish duo, numbers that are only going to continue growing in the final nine games of the season.

Five
The Hurricanes have had a number of these types of games this season - too many, really - in which the team lacks the compete necessary and the final score reflects just that.
"That goes to show that we have to come to work. We play in the NHL. We have this privilege to be here," Staal said. "We can't lay eggs like that every other game. We can't just not work. It looks like that when we don't. It's no fun to play. It's no fun to let each other down like that. I'm one of them. I wasn't good enough tonight. It's too bad. I'm going to be ready for the next game."
"It's hard. It's disappointing. It's disappointing when our compete is the way it was tonight," Peters said. "That's how our team is constructed: when we don't compete and if we're not the hardest working team, we don't give ourselves a chance. I think our guys understand that. They're realistic with that. So when we don't bring it, it's a little disappointing for sure. That's an understatement."
So, Thursday against Arizona, it's evident what needs to happen for this team to get back in the win column.
"Just work ethic. Come to work," Staal said. "It doesn't matter if you're making mistakes; it's a game of mistakes. But if you're out there working, trying your best and doing what you can to help each other, that's all we're looking for."
Up Next
The Hurricanes play host to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.