GAME RECAP: Golden Knights 1, Oilers 0

LAS VEGAS, NV – No luck under the lights in Sin City.

The Edmonton Oilers were shut out 1-0 by the Vegas Golden Knights in a low-scoring affair at T-Mobile Arena, ending their win streak at three games after failing to solve netminder Adin Hill on 28 shots on Tuesday night.

"I thought we had some chances, but they had a hot goaltender and we'll have to learn from this game because I'm sure we'll see these guys again," defenceman Mattias Ekholm said. "We need to make sure we find ways to create even more."

Forward Ivan Barbashev scored the lone goal for the Golden Knights 10:47 into the first period before Hill locked down the crease the rest of the way to claim the two points. The tally came at even strength on a night where neither team received a power play, with the contest going down as the first NHL game since 1944 where there were no penalties called and only one goal scored.

"It was a well-checked game," Ekholm said. "I thought a couple of things could have been called, but I thought they kept it pretty even. Obviously, they called nothing for each, so that will happen. We know we have a lot of offensive guys that can score goals in here, so it's on us to find ways to do it. Unfortunately tonight, their goaltender got the best of us."

Stuart Skinner made 15 saves for the Oilers, including a terrific glove stop on Tomas Hertl in the middle frame, but fell to 8-7-1 on the season with the defeat.

The Oilers drop to 13-10-2 on the season and seven points back of the Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division as they return home from their three-game road trip to host the Columbus Blue Jackets at Rogers Place on Thursday night.

FIRST PERIOD

The gamble didn't pay off for Leon Draisaitl, who came onto the ice for Connor McDavid and dropped an unattended pass at the top of Vegas' zone that led to Edmonton's Pacific Division rivals taking the lead near the midway mark of the opening frame.

The German jumped off the bench and tried to drop Mattias Ekholm's incoming pass to Evan Bouchard at the top of the circles, but instead put the puck in a prime position for Ivan Barbashev to pick it up and create a two-on-one the other way for the Golden Knights.

"There's a play that I've seen execute many times," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "If that goes another foot into another area, then it's picked up and we probably have a good quality shot. It wasn't there and it's probably one he wants back, but it happens. And the amount of opportunities he creates, you know, it's not always going to be perfect. There are going to be mistakes."

Bouchard made a great initial play by dropping down to take away the first pass from Barbashev that was meant for Jack Eichel, but the puck fell right back to Barbashev for the Golden Knights winger to catch Stuart Skinner off guard and quickly fire it five-hole for the 1-0 lead.

The error resulted in the only goal of a low-event opening frame at T-Mobile Arena where the Oilers had the only shot of the game before Brett Kulak sifted one on goal for Edmonton’s second attempt on goal at 8:19 of the period.

The Oilers came into Vegas on Tuesday having won four of their last five visits and at least a point in nine of their last 12 regular-season games against the Golden Knights (8-3-1).

SECOND PERIOD

The Oilers generated bigger and better chances during the middle frame, but they were still chased the Golden Knights’ one-goal lead through 40 minutes.

"It was a tight-checking game. There wasn't much room and the shots showed it," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "There wasn't much for most or both teams. I think we had some really good chances in the second period where we didn't get a good shot."

Jeff Skinner made a great pass to Adam Henrique to open up a shooting chance for his linemate early in the period that Hill stopped before it was pushed loose as Henrique crashed the net for his rebound, creating a scramble for a loose puck that the Oilers couldn’t bury to tie the game.

Then, it was Stuart Skinner’s turn, coming up with a miraculous save on Tomas Hertl after Drake Caggiula failed to chip the puck past a Golden Knights’ defender to crease an odd-man rush for Edmonton's fourth line.

Hertl came down the left side and cut to his backhand but was denied by the glove of the Oilers netminder to keep it 1-0 just past the four-minute mark of the frame.

Bouchard had a chance on a two-on-one with McDavid stopped by Hill before the Oilers defenceman set up Connor Brown for a wide-open chance at the back door that the winger missed wide left with over eight minutes left in the period.

Brown's missed opportunity was a bit of a summation of the night for the Oilers, who didn't get many bounces in their favour over the full 60 minutes.

"We had some one-timers where we just didn't get the shot we wanted," Knoblauch said. "I know the other day in practice we saw Brownie take that one-timer that he had and he never missed. He was connecting on them in practice, and he has it in the game and the result is not what he wanted. I think that kind of summarized a lot of our game tonight where we did a lot of good things."

Trailing 1-0 after two periods, the Oilers were in need of another third-period push, having recorded the fourth-most wins this season when trailing after 40 minutes and six total victories this year when giving up the first goal.

THIRD PERIOD

Edmonton would be forced to finish the contest with five defencemen when Troy Stecher took a puck to the face early in the period, resulting in a quick whistle and the blueliner heading straight down the tunnel for repairs.

Stecher didn't play another shift, but the initial prognosis was positive after Knoblauch spoke to him post-game.

"I talked to him when we walked off the ice and he said he's fine," he said. "He's got a little bandaid over his ear, but I haven't heard from the training staff. Sometimes, I hear that from the players and it's a different story, but I think he's good."

Chasing the equalizer, the Oilers loaded up the top line with both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but couldn’t convert on a handful of good lucks during an extended shift in the Golden Knights zone.

The Blue & Orange couldn’t find the finishing touch they needed to beat Adin Hill, including on their best chance of the third period when Henrique had the puck on his stick in the slot to chuck an uncontested backhand on goal that the Vegas shot-stopper gloved down.

Mattias Janmark had one of Edmonton’s final chances when a long stretch pass into his path and a hard drive to the Vegas net couldn’t be willed over the goal line when he and another Golden Knights’ defender crashed into Hill’s crease.

With Edmonton's net empty in the final two minutes, a high shot from Bouchard fell to the right of Hill after the initial save, leading to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fighting for the rebound but being foiled by the outstretched right pad of Hill, who'd finish with the shutout after making 26 saves in the low-scoring affair.

"In the third period, we obviously had a lot of push and some chances," Knoblauch said. "Overall, from a coach's standpoint, I thought we did many good things and did everything but put the puck in the net."