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The Oilers visit the New York Islanders on Saturday night. The game can be seen on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet Pacific and heard on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED. Puck drop is 5:08 p.m. MST.
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Inside The Oilers Blog
Things got started in a hurry in Carolina on Friday when Nino Niederrieter opened the scoring for the Hurricanes just 37 seconds into the game. The Oilers were quick to respond, though, when Zack Kassian and Leon Draisaitl got loose on a two-on-one less than a minute later where Draisaitl made good on his team-leading 34th goal of the season with a tap-in past Carolina goaltender Curtis McElhinney
Not to be outdone, the Hurricanes answered right back minutes later when an odd-man rush resulted in Lucas Wallmark potting his 8th of the season.
On an ensuing Carolina power play, it was the Oilers with the best looks when both Connor McDavid and Alex Chiasson came close to knotting things up at two while shorthanded but McElhinney was dialed-in early, making some solid saves in the opening 20 to keep things 2-1 for Carolina despite the Oilers outshooting them 12 to 9.
The contest seemed destined to be similar to the eleven-goal affair between the two teams back in January (resulting in a 7-4 Carolina final), but things settled down after the opening frame. The two teams exchanged plenty of chances in the 2nd but both goalies were up to the task, including two more brilliant saves by McElhinney on dangerous chances from Connor McDavid and Alex Chiasson. The Oilers held a dominant hold in shot category after 40 minutes with a 29 to 14 advantage- A stat not be overlooked against a Carolina team who, on average, outshoots their opponents 35-28 and leads the League in shots for and against.
"It's unfortunate. Two really good efforts, 80 shots in the last two games and some really good looks. We just weren't able to get one past him," said Milan Lucic post-game. "It's frustrating at this time of year when you're working so hard to get yourself back into things and you can't seem to even find a hole on the goaltender. We'll have to bring the same effort next game and give yourself a chance to win."
Connor McDavid recalls another game when the McElhinney frustrated the Oilers in a similar fashion.
"I remember last year we played him in Toronto. I don't know if we've ever had as many chances than that," said McDavid. "He stood on his head... Tonight, same type of thing."
The Oilers added 12 more shots in the final frame and had plenty of dangerous chances, but it was McElhinney who stole the show and turned all of them aside to preserve the Carolina lead.
It looked as though the Oilers had the makings of a glorius chance to tie it with a clear two-on-one with just minutes remaining, but it was broken up by the defender and on the ensuing Carolina rush up the ice, Niederrieter would add another for the 'Canes with less than five to play that would seal the 3-1 victory for the home side.
"We played better tonight than we even did against Pittsburgh," said Coach Hitchcock. "It came down to a missed two-on-one one way and a got two-on-one the other way. You have this many scoring chances and you work this hard, you expect a better reward for it."
The Oilers will wrap up their three-game road trip with a stop in New York tomorrow night to face the Islanders.
