NEWARK, N.J. — Eight good periods out of nine. Two wins in three games. Five points out of a possible six.
If this is as bad as it gets for the Edmonton Oilers — getting buckled in the second period of a 4-3 shootout loss against the fast and furious New Jersey Devils — then life can’t be so bad for the last team in the National Hockey League without a regulation loss on the road (7-0-1).
As the Oilers fly home from their annual New York roadie, they continue to look like an entirely different team under head coach Mike Babcock. With a four-game homestand beginning Thursday, Edmonton has never-before-seen structure, excellent goaltending, and an 11-2-3 record that’s good for second place in the NHL’s overall standings.
“The details of what we are, and what we're about, are there. The work ethic — the expectation to be heavy and physical and be fast — are there,” assessed third-line centre Jason Dickinson. “Sometimes the execution is missing in puck play and decision making, and that's probably where we could really tidy things up.”
On this night the power play returned with two goals, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had 1-1-2 on the night he became the all-time longest serving Oiler (1,038 games), and Tristan Jarry authored a point-saving performance, stopping 31 shots in his best game of the season.
Nugent-Hopkins’ linemates Kasperi Kapanen (two assists) and Colton Dach were both excellent, again, while Ryan Shea gave his team a crucial shot block that denied Jack Hughes his hat trick goal and afforded a comeback after trailing 3-1 to grab the shootout point.
“We've made a lot of progress. We're finding more and more players,” Babcock said. “I mean, Dacher is getting to be a good player for us, an important piece night after night. Nuge getting back, he looks good. Our third and fourth line… I thought our fourth line tonight played hard. We're not as good as we need to be in that area.”
That third line that Babcock didn’t love was Dickinson between Alex Formenton and Mathieu Joseph. It’s been a good unit most nights, but couldn’t help stem the tide of a relentless Devils push in Period 2, when New Jersey outshot Edmonton 15-3.
“I think it falls on guys like myself to turn that tide,” said Dickinson, who has played in just seven of 16 games this season due to injury. “When we get out there, to be extra hard. Be extra diligent with the puck play, so that we can turn the tide and we can get that momentum back for the group. Give everybody else something to lean on to go out there and keep rolling with what we've put out there.”
Edmonton led 1-0 after 20 minutes on an Evan Bouchard bomb. But it all fell apart in the second 20 minutes.
“I thought we were fine in the first. we were better than fine in the third,” Babcock said. “In the second, I don't know what was going on there, but they were way better than us. Waaaay faster than us. We just kept turning it over, changing, and yelling, ‘Here (they) come again!’
“We feel fortunate to get a point here tonight. They were better than us.”
The Oilers have now lost five in a row to the Devils, dating back three seasons. But they’ve also gone five consecutive games without allowing a first period goal, outscoring opponents 14-2 in the opening frame on the road this season.
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl (13th goal) and Evan Bouchard (1-1-2) have combined for 97 points this season and sit one-two-three atop the NHL scoring race. With 31 assists, McDavid still has more assists than anyone else in the NHL has points.
This wasn’t a night everyone walked into talking about McDavid. He was good but not great, while stretching his NHL record for assists in consecutive games to open a season to 16.
On a day that began with a team salute to Nugent-Hopkins, including some video tributes from former teammates like Jordan Eberle and Darnell Nurse, he had the game on his stick in a chance to close this game in the shootout. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Connor Hellebuyck turned him aside, and the Oilers lost their second straight shootout. Still they’ve got points in seven of their last eight games, and an impressive 14 of 16 games this season,
“They skate well,” Draisaitl said of the Devils. “Their puck movement makes them makes them fast, and then they’ve got the legs to go with it. So yeah, they're a good team.
“I like the consistency part of it,” he said of Edmonton’s overall game. “Other than the second period today, which was not our best, we're trending in a good direction.”
Spec's checks
Jarry’s shutout sequence ended at 153:59, the fifth longest in franchise history. The longest belongs to Tommy Salo (192:52 – Mar. 2-11, 2001) … With the new time zone situation, Edmonton stayed overnight here rather than fly home post-game, the way they would have a year ago. They’ll fly home Wednesday, and have a full morning skate before Thursday’s game against Anaheim.
3:05