PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Lightning

The Edmonton Oilers conclude a back-to-back set on Thursday at Benchmark International Arena against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Lightning

TAMPA, FL – Close, but not close enough.

It was a frustrating result against the Washington Capitals, as the Oilers couldn’t dig themselves out of multiple two-goal deficits in a 7-4 defeat on Wednesday in the first of back-to-back games that will conclude on Thursday at Benchmark International Arena against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It was a hectic first period in the U.S. capital where goals were flying from both sides, with Edmonton receiving both of its tallies courtesy of defenceman Darnell Nurse after the Capitals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 6:04 of regulation off goals from Russian forwards Aliaksei Protas and Alex Ovechkin.

"It's nice to contribute," Nurse said. "I think it's been a while since I helped out on that side of the ice, but for us, wins and keeping the puck out of our net is the most important part right now."

The Capitals led 3-2 entering the middle frame, where Ryan Leonard scored the lone tally to restore the two-goal lead, but Edmonton's desire for another third-period comeback started only 2:41 into the third period when forward David Tomasek kicked a pass to his stick and buried his second-ever NHL goal.

"You try to do whatever you can to get more time, keep playing and be in the lineup," Tomasek said. "This obviously helps the player and their confidence, because it's all about confidence. But it's too bad. They scored a couple of minutes after that on an odd-man rush."

The Czech skater, who was given an opportunity after the Oilers went with 11 forwards and seven defencemen because of injuries to Noah Philp and Curtis Lazar, relished the chance to play for the first time in three games and will get another look in the lineup on Thursday against the Lightning.

"I feel pretty good," Tomasek said. "Obviously, it helps to get a little bit of a rhythm and tempo going. I'm trying to play my game and be strong on the face-offs, and I thought it was getting better as the game went along."

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said depth contributions are exactly what the Oilers needed more of, and Tomasek's been doing a good job despite the circumstances to be ready for his opportunity, which arrived on Thursday and resulted in the 29-year-old seizing on his chance with a big goal.

"I'm very happy with David's play," the bench boss said. "It's tough not coming in or coming into games when you haven't played for a while, and we haven't had any practice time either. He's been on the ice doing some skills and some skating to keep his conditioning up, but he hasn't had that game-like atmosphere. It's been a while, and tonight I thought he had a solid game."

"It's nice to see him rewarded with a goal off a forecheck there. We'll need him to play like that even more because playing shorthanded will need contributions from everybody."

After Anthony Beauvillier made it 5-3 four minutes later, Leon Draisaitl potted one on the power play for the Oilers, but that would be the last goal they managed before Tom Wilson scored two empty-netters to seal the deal.

The Oilers never led in the game, with every avenue they found back into the game being closed by the Capitals by their own defensive shortcomings.

“Every time we pushed, they were able to find a way to capitalize on a chance,” Nurse said. “We were able to find some goals and keep ourselves in the game late.”

Wednesday's result was the seventh time this season they've given up five or more goals to their opponents. The defensive effort just wasn’t up to par, given the Capitals' league-low 24 goals against during five-on-five play coming into the match. The Oilers were chasing one of the best even-strength teams all night, and that’s a hard way to get a win.

"It's tough to win games when you're giving up five before the empty netter, so we gotta clean it up defensively and keep the puck out," Nurse said.

"It's very disappointing, because you dig a hole and you fight to get back out of it, and then you're in that hole again," Knoblauch said. "This group is a resilient group. They are frustrated, but they are resilient and don't give up. We've seen that time and time again, so we have to stay with it."

The Oilers dropped to two straight defeats with the 7-4 loss, bringing their overall record to 9-9-4 on the season. However, Knoblauch was pleased with how hard his team worked in the final 20 minutes while still emphasizing their need to improve on the defensive side of the puck.

"For a team that's not happy with the way they're playing and feeling very discouraged, I liked the energy," Knoblauch said. "Obviously, they're disappointed, but they're pushing hard. I don't necessarily like the defensive details of our game, but they're pushing and they have the energy. They feel like any game that they have a chance to win."

Tomasek, a newcomer to the NHL this season, acknowledged that it's beneficial to have the opportunity to make changes after losses and respond so quickly, as the Oilers look forward to the chance to answer back 24 hours later in Tampa in the second half of a back-to-back set.

"That's the good thing, I guess, about the league -- you travel a lot, you play a lot, but we have to change some things for sure," he said. "That's too many goals against, so we gotta find a way to be better, especially on a long road trip like this. Tomorrow's another day and a new chance."

The Oilers will have their work cut out for them against the Lightning, who have beaten the Oilers in 10 of their last 11 games in Tampa.

It will be a clash of titans offensively with Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl all ranking in the active top five for multi-point games since 2022-23. It will take an all-around effort to defeat a team with multiple Stanley Cup winners.

“Obviously, we have the best players in the league,” Tomasek said, “It’s not easy, but you have to try and find a way to help the team.”

Tampa Bay is in unfamiliar territory at the moment, barely clinging on to an Eastern Conference wild card position at 10-7-2. They are coming off of a commanding 5-1 victory against the Devils, in which Jake Guentzel recorded a hat-trick.