GAME RECAP: Blue Jackets 5, Oilers 2

COLUMBUS, OH - The Edmonton Oilers saw their four-game win streak snapped at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon, falling 5-2 at Nationwide Arena in the first game of their final two-game road trip of the regular season.
Evander Kane opened the scoring with his 21st goal for the Oilers, and Leon Draisaitl notched his 55th goal of the season on the powerplay in the second period to lift the Oilers to a 2-1 lead before the Blue Jackets scored four straight in the final frame.
Connor McDavid had two assists on the day to extend his lead in the NHL scoring race to 118 points, while Mikko Koskinen played strongly despite the defeat with 26 saves on 30 shots.

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FIRST BLOOD

Off a broken-up play in the neutral zone, McDavid picked up a loose puck and countered 3-on-2 with Kailer Yamamoto and Evander Kane the other way in quick transition. The captain wheeled up the flank and dropped a pass to Kane at the top of the attack, where he ripped the opening goal into the top-left corner past Elvis Merzlikins for his 21st goal in just 40 games with the Oilers.
McDavid's assist marked a new career-high of 117 points for the captain that grew to 118 in the second frame with another helper, making it 43 goals and 75 assists in 78 games.

NO LEAKIN' MERZLIKINS

Merzlikins flashed across Columbus crease and got the left pad on what looked like a sure-fire Yamamoto tap in at the back post on a 2-on-1 with McDavid with 6:46 left in the first frame, but the stop kept it a one-goal game.
It was a vital one at that too, with Eric Robinson tying the game for the Blue Jackets two-and-a-half minutes later on the second effort off a bouncing puck in front that Jakub Vorachek corralled and put on net before Robinson smacked the rebound past Koskinen.

PLAY OF THE GAME

McDavid once again played provider, this time on the powerplay, to restore Edmonton's one-goal advantage five-and-a-half minutes into the middle frame. Barrie dropped a pass from the blueline down to McDavid, who split the middle of the Blue Jackets zone and found Draisaitl at The Spot™ located in the right circle to one-time home his 55th goal and 24th power-play goal of the season inside the near post.

KOLOSSAL KOSKINEN

Brett Kulak attempted a clearance from the Oilers zone by rounding the Edmonton net and throwing the puck up the middle, but the referee's unorthodox placement on the side of the net complicated things after the puck struck the skate of the official and gave Emil Bemstrom the most-open look of his career.
It required an incredible sprawling save from Koskinen to get the slightest touch on the puck and put it off the post before it bounced back in front for a second Blue Jackets chance that didn't amount to anything but a frozen puck and a whistle. Talk about bad bounces, but the recovery save was simply sublime.

TURNING POINT

Nick Blankenburg's shot through traffic on the powerplay avoided the bodies in front and nestled itself into the right side of Koskinen's net for the first goal of Columbus defenceman's career and a 3-2 Blue Jackets with 10:46 on the clock in the final period. The lone power-play tally for the Blue Jackets came on their fourth man advantage of the day after the Oilers were pegged for two minutes for Too Many Men. Jack Roslovic added insurance by scoring his ninth goal in seven games with 3:15 to go in regulation before Cole Sillinger added an empty-netter. in the final minute.

TOP PERFORMER

McDavid had another multi-point outing, his 44th of the season, with two assists on Sunday afternoon that pushed his points total at the top of the NHL scoring race to 118 points (43G, 75A). In his last three games since being held pointless against the Vegas Golden Knights on April 16, the captain has posted a goal and seven assists.

PARTING WORDS

Barrie on Columbus scoring four goals in the third period to win the game:
"They got one early there, and the bottom line is we have to be better in the third. I think we had a lot of chances to score prior to that in the first two periods and we have to bear down on our chances and be sharp putting them away when we have the chance, but give them credit. They're a good young team and play hard. I think we were chasing it there at the end of the game and we probably could've avoided that if we bury a few chances early."

Barrie on missing Nurse and reverting back to six defencemen today:
"I think obviously missing Nursey is a big piece of this team. You don't replace what he brings and you saw all of our minutes go up tonight. We're only playing six D and I think guys like getting involved with some more minutes, but Nursey does such a good job defensively, offensively and kind of does it all for us. Hopefully, he won't be out for long."
Hyman on the Oilers being unable to bury their chances early in the game:
"We had a lot of chances. Credit to their goalie... As you get closer to the playoffs, those chances are harder to come by, so we've got to put it on ourselves to bear down, especially a team like that you could put them away early and take the life out of the game and shut it down. He made saves and we didn't capitalize."

Coach Woodcroft on not having the edge in the final period holding onto the lead:
"Missed opportunity."
"I think we try to paint the picture that they're a competitive group. That's the culture that they've built around this organization and they're more skilled than they get credit for. I think they got a little bit of momentum on their powerplay, even the ones they didn't score on. I think it gave them a little bit of offensive confidence. In the end, we didn't get that kill at 2-2 and we couldn't find that next goal. Give them credit, they did a lot of good things, but it's certainly a missed opportunity."