GAME RECAP: Lightning 5, Oilers 3

TAMPA, FL - Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman extended their respective goal-scoring streaks on Wednesday but the Oilers comeback attempt fell short in a 5-3 loss to the Lightning.
Three straight goals by the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions late in the first and early in the second gave the home side a 4-1 lead. Edmonton battled back with Hyman's tally in the middle frame and McDavid's second of the night in the third, but the Lightning held off the late surge.
The Oilers have now lost back-to-back games after winning the first five of Head Coach Jay Woodcroft's tenure. They will have two days to regroup before completing their Florida swing on Saturday afternoon against the Panthers in Sunrise.

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FIRST BLOOD

The home side struck first at the 11:57 mark of the opening frame after a fast-paced, back-and-forth first half-period with plenty of chances by both teams. It was an unlucky bounce that landed the Oilers another 1-0 deficit as Tampa's Anthony Cirelli and Pat Maroon entered the zone on an abbreviated two-on-one rush. Cirelli found Maroon cutting to the net and his initial shot attempt was stopped by Mike Smith, but the rebound deflected off Devin Shore's skate in for the former Oiler's ninth of the season.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Despite the defeat, Zach Hyman had the top highlight of the night as he buried a backhand deke past Andrei Vasilevskiy at 17:12 of the middle frame. The winger received a stretch pass at the attacking blueline from Leon Draisaitl who was way back inside the Oilers zone, got in behind the Lightning defence and lifted his shot over Vasilevskiy's pad to make it 4-2.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Smith made a trio of saves in succession on Ondrej Palat on a delayed penalty early in the third period with the teams already playing four-on-four hockey, keeping the score 4-2 at the time and his team still within striking distance for their comeback attempt. The veteran finished the night with 18 saves.

TURNING POINT

After Connor McDavid made it a 1-1 game with a power-play marker at 18:10 of the opening frame, it looked as though the teams would head into the first intermission all square, but Lightning captain Steven Stamkos sniped his 24th of the season with just 15 seconds on the clock to put the home side up 2-1. They wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the night on their way to the win.

TOP PERFORMER

As he tends to be on a regular basis, McDavid was the best player on the ice Wednesday, dangling through the Lightning defence with ease all night and finishing with two goals, his 27th and 28th of the year. He's tied with Draisaitl for the NHL scoring lead with 73 points.

FAST FACTS

With his power-play goal in the first period, McDavid has now scored in six consecutive road games and seven of the last eight, with the lone goose egg coming in the 7-2 victory in Montreal.
Hyman has now scored in five straight games and six of the last seven, giving him 19 goals on the season and putting him just two back of his career high from both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Draisaitl won all seven faceoffs he took in the first period and finished the night 14-for-22.

PARTING WORDS

McDavid on the team's performance on Wednesday:
"I liked parts of our game, for sure. We generated lots of chances and I thought we did an alright job keeping them in check, but they're a great team. They do a lot of really good things and just find ways to win games. That's what they did tonight."

Woodcroft on the Oilers effort to open the road trip:
"I thought it was a competitive hockey game for our team tonight. Coming in to face the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs, we gave up 23 shots on net. There were a few breakdowns and some weird goals ... Are there some things we can do better? Yeah, but in terms of the compete level of our team, coming into a tough environment, there were some real good signs tonight."
Woodcroft on Smith's performance between the pipes:
"At the end of the day, we were in a one-goal hockey game and they scored an empty-netter. He tried to battle through some things and made some saves for us as well. We had a chance to win that game."