GAME RECAP: Hurricanes 3, Oilers 1

EDMONTON, AB - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tallied his third goal of the season and Mikko Koskinen stopped 28 pucks but Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho's three-point night and netminder Frederik Andersen's 23-save outing propelled the visitors to victory Saturday at Rogers Place.
With the loss, the Oilers drop their fifth consecutive game, see their record shift to 16-10-0 on the year and 0-4-0 during the club's current six-game homestand.

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FIRST BLOOD

Entering the matchup with six goals, seven assists and 13 points in eight career games against Edmonton, Oilers destroyer Aho lit the lamp for his 14th marker of the season at 7:17 of the first period on the power play to break the ice Saturday night.
Vincent Trocheck centred the puck to Aho as he was streaking towards the Oilers net and the centreman wasted no time placing a backhand shot at Koskinen. The puck-stopper was able to discard Aho's initial attempt but couldn't cover the follow-up as the Finn shovelled in the rebound to open the scoring.

SAVES OF THE GAME

Koskinen's splits save on Steven Lorentz in the second period was the guardian's best of his 28 stops on the evening.
After being sprung on a breakaway to attack Koskinen all alone, Lorentz pulled a backhand-forehand move before being robbed by Koskinen's right skate to keep the Oilers within one heading into the third period.
Carolina net-protector Frederik Andersen, who improved to 16-1-2 all-time versus the Orange & Blue, made a flurry of stops late in the first period to prevent the home side from tying it up at 1-1.
Andersen challenged Evan Bouchard's low shot from the goalmouth and followed that up with a chest stop on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' one-timer from the slot. The netminder then got his toe on Connor McDavid's nifty net drive in the waning moments of the opening frame.

TURNING POINT

Aho's second goal of the game at 17:16 of the third period served as the game's turning point as the goal provided the 'Canes with the offensive insurance they would need to cement the road victory while the Oilers pushed for the equalizer. After a misplay of the puck by Koskinen at the side of the Oilers net, Aho swooped in to steal it for the unassisted tally and his 15th of the campaign.

TOP PERFORMER

Aho's three-point performance and second consecutive multi-goal game earned him Top Performer honours Saturday at Rogers Place. The crafty forward upstarted Carolina's offence in the first period, assisted on Niederreiter's goal in the second frame and deposited his 15th goal of '21-22 late in the third period.

BEAR IN MIND

Welcome back, Bearsy.
After being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes over the off-season in a swap that brought forward Warren Foegele to the Oilers organization, former Edmonton defender Ethan Bear received a warm welcome from Oil Country in his first instance of action versus the franchise that selected him 124th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.
The 24-year-old rearguard was honoured with a video shout-out by the club and heard plenty of cheers each time he appeared on the scoreboard. The Saskatchewan product completed the night with one shot on goal, one blocked shot, one takeaway and a minus-one rating while logging 10:56 of ice time.

PARTING WORDS

Head Coach Dave Tippett's assessment of the game:
"I don't see us executing well enough to get the speed we needed in our game. That's a fast team and they come at you quick. The execution is harder and I understand that. Our execution breaking out of our zone, making a play under pressure is not where it needs to be right now. There are too many plays that just look mish-mashed instead of clean. We had some attempts at the net.
"If you look at some of the chances we had in the third, there were some good chances to get ourselves back in the game. We're just not executing at a level right now. Our game doesn't feel fluid. You feel like you're chasing the game. Part of it is chasing the game. It's like an anxious push instead of just a fluid game where you feel like everybody is involved."
Tippett's sense of the group during the difficult skid:
"We went with a motto that we didn't want to lose two in a row and now we're climbing way above that. We've got to get things straightened out. We got a day off tomorrow, we'll have a good practice. We haven't practiced much here lately with the schedule. We got to get some things cleaned up in our game. You might see one or two of the injured guys back hopefully next week sometime. We'll keep pushing forward. There are parts of the game you like and parts you need to improve if you want to be a better team."

Oilers Captain Connor McDavid's evaluation of the loss:
"We did some good things. We probably gave up a couple of too many chances late in the second. Mikko was great and made a couple of saves. We generated some chances but didn't find a way to put them in. That's kind of been the story of this homestand."
McDavid on what areas the Oilers need to improve to win:
"Our sense of urgency has to go up. A good start buys us a slump and we've used our slump here. We're back to work on Monday with a good practice to get ourselves ready for another good Toronto team. Work our way out of it. It seems like when you're slumping, things just don't go your way and you got to work extra hard to get out of it. That's just the way it is and we've got to find a way to get one win and go from there."
Evan Bouchard on the Oilers recent performances during the five-game losing stretch:
"I think we've taken steps in the past few games but it comes down to putting that extra effort in, whether it's in the D-zone or offensive zone. As long as we do that, good things are going to come for us."