'Brutal Start' Sinks Canes In Edmonton

EDMONTON, AB. - The Edmonton Oilers scored twice in the opening minute and went off to the races from there, thumping the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 6-1 on Wednesday.

Short Night For Kochetkov

Taking his turn in net after Antti Raanta started Monday in Winnipeg, it was unfortunately a short-lived evening for Pyotr Kochetkov.

Entering 3-0-1 in his last four starts, tonight could not have been more opposite for the young 24-year-old. Lasting just 5:46, the netminder allowed three goals on six shots before a rare Rod Brind'Amour in-game removal.

By no means were all three goals Kochetkov's fault, there were breakdowns, breathers, and atypical lapses leading to each one, but at the end of the day, Carolina's netminder was unable to pull off any magical stops before Raanta took over.

Quickly Forget This One

One benefit to getting Kochetkov out of the net early was that it will allow him to potentially be an option for Thursday night in Calgary, a contest that Carolina moved onto perhaps even before the final horn.

Edmonton led 4-0 after one period and 5-0 after two, but before the end of 40 minutes, Carolina's bench boss offered some candid words during the mid-stanza interview on TNT.

Staal Snaps Skinner's Shutout Bid

Exactly two weeks ago Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner was the one having the tough night, pulled during the first period.

Tonight, he was on the other end as his offense in front of him produced goal after goal.

Albeit the game was never in jeopardy after the opening minute, Carolina still actually led the shots battle, forcing Skinner to stay engaged. His night was perfect until the final 15 minutes of the affair when Jordan Staal broke through.

The Captain put home a rush chance following a beautiful feed from Jaccob Slavin, giving Carolina their only goal of the night.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour sharing his thoughts after the loss...

"It was a bad game from start to finish.  We didn't have anything going.  [When] you get in a hole like that off the bat, that's certainly not how you want to start the game.  I haven't seen a game like that out of us, so I'm a little lost for words.  Not acceptable, that's for sure.  Our top guys, especially, have got to show up a little more.  You see their top guys out there, that's for sure.  We've got to be better."

Jordan Staal giving similar words...

"It wasn't pretty, the whole game.  Embarrassing, really.  [It's a] good thing we play tomorrow, I wouldn't want to sit on that one for too long.  They got two goals in the first minute and it's tough to come back [after that] in this league.  They were fresh and ready to go.  We were slow and not buying into anything we do.  That's what that's going to look like."

What's Next?

The Canes team will fly to Calgary immediately post-game.  They'll then take on the Flames Thursday night.

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