GAME RECAP: Panthers 5, Oilers 1

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers dropped to their second straight defeat on Saturday night in a 5-1 defeat to the Florida Panthers at Rogers Place.

Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky made 38 saves, and winger Carter Verhaegehe (2G, 1A) and centre Sam Bennett (1G, 2A) contributed multi-point nights for the visitors in the victory.

The Panthers were shut out in their previous two contests but are now undefeated (6-0-3) in their last nine road visits to Rogers Place with the five-goal effort, while Edmonton has now given up 12 goals in their last two games after outscoring their opponents 39-13 over their previous eight-game win streak.

"We've been happy with how we've been playing and kind of got our season back on track here the last couple of weeks, but the games keep coming fast, so you got to be ready to play all the time," defenceman Brett Kulak said. "Teams are good. They're hungry. They weren't happy with their game coming into this one, and they were hungry around the net and we weren't on our A-game."

Zach Hyman registered his 18th goal of the campaign in the loss, and Connor McDavid produced an assist to extend his point streak to 12 games (7G, 21A).

The Oilers (13-14-1) will be back in action on Tuesday night when they begin a three-game road trip against the New York Islanders.

FIRST PERIOD

The Panthers are a pack you wouldn't think is capable of going more than two games without scoring with the likes of Carter Verhaeghe, Brandon Montour and their captain Aleksander Barkov in their ranks.

All three would find the back of the net in the first period.

Three goals for the Panthers in the opening 20 minutes started by Verhaeghe's finish on a down-low play with Bennett broke a goalless streak of 126:36 for the visitors and did its part in establishing Florida's firm first-period dominance on Saturday night.

"I think in the first period we had our chances," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I know Nuge had two Grade-A scoring chances. I think we had a couple more there, but I don't think we defended well enough. I don't think there was enough urgency to protect the slots. We made some mistakes and they forced us into doing that, and that's going to be part of hockey.

"But I just didn't like how we reacted to those and you knew were going to get a very hungry, determined team tonight after losing their previous two and getting shut out. We knew it wasn't going to be easy and they certainly were ready to play."

Late in the period, Brandon Montour crept down from the blueline and fired Verhaeghe's feed from the left corner past Calvin Pickard with 1:02 on the clock to make it 2-0.

Only 29 seconds later, it was Barkov scoring to make it a three-goal game heading into the first intermission on the follow-up rebound off his deflection that came from Oliver Ekman-Larsson's low shot.

"Obviously a sloppy game from us, especially at the end of the first there," Hyman said. "It's 1-0 and then we give up two within two minutes on plays that we can control. – just getting outnumbered at the net and just not defending the way we have been, so it's a tough one. We've got to move past it and get ready for this New York trip."

SECOND PERIOD

The top line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman came out looking to start the middle period off strongly for the Oilers and found their team an avenue back into the contest.

The trio hemmed the Panthers into their own zone in the first five minutes of the frame and forced Bobrovsky into some great saves to keep the visitors up by three, but the Oilers were beginning to win more battles and soon enough, they found a way to break through.

After Mattias Ekholm broke across the Florida blueline just inside the eight-minute mark, McDavid received a pass from the Swede and turned at the top of the circle before opening up to Hyman, who slid his 18th goal of the campaign around the former two-time Vezina Trophy winner on a backhand with over half the second period remaining.

The Oilers could've got another back when Ekholm found himself breaking away in a one-on-one with Bobrovsky, but the defenceman couldn't convert and it would prove costly on a Panthers' power play in the frame's final five minutes.

Edmonton faced a seemingly do-or-die penalty kill before the intermission when Brett Kulak was handed a double minor for a high stick on Evan Rodrigues, who left the game after the play but would eventually return. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get the kill they needed.

Florida found their way back into a three-goal lead when former Calgary Flames' forward Bennett weaved his way in on the power play and beat Pickard with the backhand with 3:59 left in the frame.

"Just come back protecting the slot with a little more urgency to take away those plays," Knoblauch said. "I don't think it was turnovers. Their turnovers are always going to happen. I don't think there were more turnovers than our typical game, but it was just when there was a mistake or they had pucks, we just kind of weren't protecting the dangerous ice."

Bobrovsky would deny Warren Foegele with a stunning save before the break, and the trend of the Oilers facing hot goaltending was continuing on Saturday night with 26 saves from the Russian netminder through 40 minutes.

"It's up to us and we know how to score goals, but it's just about making them work," Kulak said. "Tonight, he obviously made some big saves and the game could have been a lot different had he not made those saves."

THIRD PERIOD

Verhaege fired a wrist shot short side on Pickard only 21 seconds into the final frame to make an uphill battle for Edmonton even steeper.

The Florida outwaited a sliding Evan Bouchard on an odd-man rush and beat Pickard cleanly for his second goal of the game, and the winger paced the Panthers offensively on Saturday night with two goals and an assist.

Edmonton dropped their overall record to 13-14-1 with their second consecutive defeat on home ice following their league-leading eight-game win streak.

PARTING WORDS

Hyman on running into a hot netminder for the second game in a row:

"The Tampa game probably, but this game, we didn't deserve to win this one. A game that we've got to be better in and we know we can be, so just move past it and go to the next one."

"I think we had our looks in this game, but I think in Tampa game we set a record number of shots and I think that was more of a game that was a winnable game for us. I think we think every game is winnable, but this one, we didn't show our best and we didn't play to our standards. So when you do that  sometimes you win, but most of the time, you're probably not leaving the rink happy."

Coach Knoblauch on a 4-2-0 homestand for the Oilers:

"I thought we made the most out of our home stretch here. Would we have elected these last two games? Yes. Do we feel like we could have had one or if not two of these games? Yes, but we made up some ground and now we're going to have to do it again. So, we've got a lot of game or a lot of season left. I think we're still in a very good position."

Kane on the Oilers now going on the road for three games:

"It'll be good to get on the road and go to New York City this time of the year. It's always fun. So hopefully, we can regroup tomorrow and get ready for travel day on Monday and have a good road trip heading into Christmas."