LAS VEGAS (AP)— The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Tuesday night, with Chandler Stephenson scoring the game-winning goal and Adin Hill stopping 30 saves. Edmonton aimed to tie the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins for the longest NHL win streak. Instead, with the game tied 1-1 after two periods, Stephenson grabbed a feed from Jonathan Marchessault and ripped a shot from the center of the left circle past Edmonton goalkeeper Stuart Skinner blocker side, putting the Golden Knights ahead by a goal less than two minutes into the third period.
From there, Hill was outstanding in holding the Oilers at bay and keeping the audience pumped until the final whistle.
Hill, who entered the game leading the NHL in goals-against average (1.94) and save percentage (.936), made the save of the night late in the third period, stopping Leon Draisaitl with a backdoor one-timer. Nic Roy and William Karlsson both scored for the Golden Knights. Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers. Skinner recorded 23 saves. The Oilers, who started the season 3-9-1 before sacking coach Jay Woodcroft on November 12, had a 13-15-1 re
cord before their winning run began. Edmonton had not lost a game since December 19, and its record had risen to 29-16-1. The Oilers have an NHL-best 26-7-0 record since Kris Knoblauch took over as head coach on November 13
Edmonton was undeterred after committing the first penalty game. Following a turnover caused by
Desharnais’ poke hit, McDavid collected a pass from Draisaitl and beat Hill for a short-handed goal to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. McDavid’s 10th goal and 27th point of the season came amid the Oilers’ 17-game win streak. Roy retrieved a rebound from the crease, shifted the puck to his backhand, and snapped it past Skinner for his season-high tenth goal. Karlsson’s empty-net goal with 34 seconds left sealed the win for Vegas.
Evander Kane, Leon Draisaitl, and Corey Perry should form a unique combination of skill, physicality, and aggravation. Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele have shown connection this season, but will it translate to Dylan Holloway as opposed to Draisaitl? Of course, the top line remains the same, but my ambition has always been to see Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the third line. Consider him in a third-line role alongside Kane and Perry.
The defense was where I really popped my eyes. Vincent Desharnais, who has worked well with Brett Kulak, was teamed with Darnell Nurse. Kulak was paired with Evan Bouchard, while Mattias Ekholm partnered with Cody Ceci.
I have to say, for a coaching staff that doesn’t like making radical changes to a winning line-up, this is a pretty wild reaction to just one loss after 16 straight wins prior. The Ceci/Nurse pair is inconsistent and not ideal. Ceci with Ekholm is interesting; maybe Ekholm brings out the better in him. With the latest talk from insiders about Edmonton pursuing RHD options, is this a way to audition Ceci to other teams in a trade? Fans have wondered about Desharnais playing with Nurse before, but as much as we love him, he’s not a top-pairblueliner. Bouchard/Kulak might work, but I don’t want to see Bouchard on the third pair, especially during practice. If it were up to me, I would only have Ceci and Desharnais swap positions. Ceci should be more at ease playing a supporting character rather than the lead role. Some players earned promotions but received too many, while others should not have been relegated at all; that is how I see some of these judgments. Before this afternoon, I thought all three pairs combined were 5/6 good.
