GAME RECAP: Hurricanes 6, Oilers 3

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers dropped to their third straight defeat of their four-game Eastern Conference road trip on Wednesday night with a 6-3 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.

Zach Hyman added a pair of goals to hit double digits for the season, but the winger's offensive exploits couldn't make up for a four-goal first period from Carolina, who were led by two-point nights from Seth Jarvis, Teuvo Teravainen and Jaden Chatfield in the victory.

"We had a terrible start, so anytime you give any team, whether they're good or not very good, a 4-0 lead, it's tough to come back from," Evander Kane said.

Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner gave way to Calvin Pickard in the opening frame after conceding four goals on 13 shots, while defenceman Mattias Ekholm scored a short-handed goal in the second period of the defeat.

The Blue & Orange fall to 5-12-1 on the season and conclude their four-game road trip in Washington, DC against the Capitals on Friday afternoon.

FIRST PERIOD

'Cause Chaos' is the motto of the Hurricanes this season and they certainly did in the first frame to chase Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner.

"We were just slow with the puck, slow with our feet," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "If you play long enough against these guys, you know that they start fast and put the puck behind you and make you work – especially early in the game. We talked about it and obviously, it just wasn't good enough to start.

"It's tough to get behind two or three goals on a team like this and expect to come back."

Carolina's first goal in a four-goal opening period came off an unlucky bounce for Edmonton's goalie when Jalen Chatfield's point shot struck Jordan Staal and bounced to the back post and the waiting stick of Jesper Fast, who pushed the puck into the open net at 11:43 of the first period.

Just 35 seconds later, Jack Drury and Michael Bunting worked a give-and-go on an odd-man rush to double Carolina's advantage after Edmonton coughed up the puck in the offensive zone when Mattias Ekholm, who led the rush, tried to drop the puck back to James Hamblin instead of delivering the puck on net.

Teuvo Teravainen became Carolina's first 10-goal scorer of the season in just 18 games when Sebastian Aho picked up a lose puck at the left post and slid it across the crease to his fellow Finnish countryman, who tapped in the Hurricanes' third of the night.

"No energy," Kane said. "They were faster, they kept it simple and we couldn't handle that pressure. We didn't handle that pressure well at all and they capitalized on opportunities."

When Connor McDavid was stripped of the puck by Chatfield behind Carolina's net 3:25 later, a quick transition put the puck on Seth Jarvis' stick for the 21-year-old to break down the right side and fire a shot under Skinner's right arm to make it 4-0 with just over a quarter of a frustrating first period for the Oilers remaining.

That spelled the end of the night for Skinner, who way to Calvin Pickard after stopping nine of 13 shots.

The Blue & Orange would get a goal back before the break when Leon Draisaitl sauced a pass through the legs of defenceman Brady Skjei to set up Zach Hyman at the far post on the power play for his team-leading ninth goal of the season after collecting the rebound from his first shot that struck the post.

It was a much-needed goal that was their first in 12 attempts on this four-game road trip, but the Oilers still had plenty to overcome down 4-1 through 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

The Canes capitalized early in the middle frame to once again make the deficit four goals for the Oilers.

Martin Necas was left unchecked in front of the crease between a few Oilers defenders and found space to take two cracks at a loose puck and deposit the 5-1 goal beyond Calvin Pickard just 2:12 into the second period. Moments earlier, defenceman Brett Kulak's stick got caught up in Jesperi Kotkaniemi's midsection, leaving the Stony Plain product unable to react in time Czech forward's sixth goal of the campaign.

A Carolina power play with less than three minutes left in the frame could've extended their lead, but it was the Oilers going the other way to pull themselves back with a short-handed effort.

Ryan McLeod took a drop pass inside the blueline from Warren Foegele and slid the puck back across the Carolina crease to Mattias Ekholm, who jumped into the play and caught the Hurricanes' power-play unit sleeping to finish off the play and his second goal this season. With the secondary helper, Foegele recorded his first career point against the team he played over 200 games with over four seasons between 2017 and 2021.

But like they did in the first intermission, Edmonton would still have plenty of work left to do down by three.

THIRD PERIOD

It was a spirited response from the Blue & Orange over the final 20 minutes, but it came with too big of a deficit to overturn.

The Oilers were all over the Canes in the third period and outshot the hosts 11-8 as they tried to make up for some of the mistakes they conceded over the first two periods that resulted in goals against.

"You see in the third period where we had nothing to lose," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "We just went out there and played a really simple game. We were fast and very direct and we dictated a lot of the play, so we just have to do more of that."

Hyman hit double-digit goals on the year to make it 5-3 with more than three-quarters of the third period to go when he redirected McDavid's falling pass into the right side of Pyotr Kotchekov's net. Hyman continues to pace the Oilers offensively in goals with 10 through his first 18 games after adding another pair tonight in Raleigh.

The Oilers power play had another opportunity to come up with an important goal almost two minutes later but failed to convert when it mattered most, continuing a frustrating trend for the Blue & Orange that seems to be the story of their season with the man advantage.

A late interference penalty to McDavid derailed their comeback before Brent Burns sealed the deal with a short-handed empty-net goal that solidified a 6-3 result for the Hurricanes despite Edmonton having a power play for a 6-on-4 opportunity down two goals. 

"It was very difficult to come back in a game like that, but I thought we had every opportunity to," Knoblauch said. "We had a lot of good scoring chances and Pickard made some saves, and we had a little opportunity there. At the end of the game, unfortunately we didn't get the puck on the face-off, but there are things to build off from the third period."

PARTING WORDS

Nugent-Hopkins on the continuing struggles of the Oilers this season:

"We're just not finding ways to get the job done at the end of the day. I thought Tampa, we played really well and didn't find a way to win Florida. Pretty even game. Same thing tonight. Obviously just a poor start and we're trying to claw our way back. There's not a lot to say. We've just got to have a good skate tomorrow and try to get a big win on Friday."

Coach Knoblauch on the level of concern with Edmonton's starts:

"We didn't give ourselves any favors there and made it harder for us, and I just see a lot of guys who are working hard and do care; are so worried about making mistakes and ultimately it's paralyzing us and holding us back and we're just not playing with our instincts. We just have to get away from it."

Coach Knoblauch on coaching those mistakes out of the group:

"There's coaching as in the systems making sure everyone's doing the right things and being in the right spots. Whoever has the puck, he knows his outs and he knows where his support is so he can make those plays. So I guess the coaching part is getting those guys in the right spots, but a lot of it's just feel; knowing when to hold the puck and what the next play is going to be. But if we can get all the guys together moving in sync, that'll certainly reduce the mistakes."