Koskinen makes 35 saves, Oilers hand Senators sixth loss in row

OTTAWA --Mikko Koskinen made 35 saves, and the Edmonton Oilers handed the Ottawa Senators their sixth straight loss, 4-2 at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

"For everything we went through, from the emotional part of the 6-2 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday], to not getting into the hotel until three in the morning [Thursday]*
Edmonton is seven points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"We still believe we have an opportunity to get back in this," Gagner said. "The only way you do that is just keep getting wins."
Chris Tierney and Mark Borowiecki scored, and Craig Anderson made 22 saves for the Senators (22-37-5), who have been outscored 28-12 during the losing streak. Anderson has lost eight straight starts and is 0-9-0 in his past 10 games.
"I thought we played hard," Borowiecki said. "I was proud of the group. Couple of bad bounces, bad puck luck, but such is life right now. No point in making excuses or feeling sorry for ourselves. You've got to be pros here, come in tomorrow and get back to work and try to get better and turn it into a [win]."
Tierney scored from the edge of the crease to give the Senators a 1-0 lead at 13:59 of the first period.
The Oilers tied it 1-1 at 6:47 of the second period when McDavid finished a forehand deke in tight for his 33rd goal of the season. Josh Currie got his first NHL assist.
"We had no energy at the start," Hitchcock said. "Connor gave us a big boost by his play. That helped a lot. We started to get juiced in the second period, but we were running on fumes at the start."

Gagner tapped in a cross-crease pass from Ty Rattie to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead at 17:21.
Cave scored on a backhand deke to make it 3-1 at 1:46 of the third period.
"To me, Cave's getting better," Hitchcock said. "You can see daily improvement. The composure that Currie has is really helping a lot. I mean, I don't know where we'd be without the addition of these couple guys to help augment what we've got going."
Borowiecki scored his first goal in 62 games when he backhanded a loose puck into an open net to cut it to 3-2 at 7:15.
Kassian scored into an empty net at 18:53 for the 4-2 final.

They said it

"[Lucic] is playing about as well as anyone right now. This is now five of the last six games that he's playing this well. He's skating well, he's managing the puck well. I think he gives them some stability, and they give him some moxy with the puck, and it's a good combination." -- Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock on why Colby Cave and Josh Currie are playing with Milan Lucic
"It's the hits I remember him laying on guys. I think last game in Toronto, he just missed me and crunched a guy, and I felt it. It's pretty special seeing a guy like that on your wing, and I'm very thankful." -- Oilers forward Colby Cave on playing with Lucic
"A little bit of raw emotion there. I don't really [care] about my stat line, to be honest. I think most people that know me know that. It's not about the cookie, it's just about contributing and helping these boys here. I'm trying to lead a little bit and a little raw emotion comes out and it was exciting." -- Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki on celebrating his first goal of the season

Need to know

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl extended his point streak to nine games (seven goals, five assists) and has 22 points (15 goals, seven assists) in his past 16 games. … McDavid had a game-high six shots on goal. … Tierney ended an 18-game goal drought.

What's next

Oilers: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; FS-O, SNW, NHL.TV)
Senators: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, TVAS2, SUN, NHL.TV)