GAME RECAP: Red Wings 4, Oilers 2

DETROIT, MI - Doubled up in Detroit.
Connor McDavid scored his ninth goal of the season and extended his point-scoring streak to 11 games, Jesse Puljujärvi notched his sixth and netminder Stuart Skinner made 35 stops in the Oilers 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena.
With the setback, the Oilers see their four-game winning streak come to a halt and their record change to 9-2-0 on the campaign.

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FIRST BLOOD

Vladislav Namestnikov opened the scoring at 14:03 of the first period to put the Red Wings on the board before the Oilers. The left-winger jumped up into the rush after a turnover at Detroit's blueline, driving wide to the net then cutting in and flipping the puck far side over Skinner's right pad for his sixth goal of the year.
Former Oilers forward Sam Gagner, dressing in his 900th career National Hockey League game on Tuesday, was awarded the only assist on the play, recording his fourth helper of the season.

TURNING POINT

With the Oilers down by a pair in the middle period and still looking to get on the board, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin took advantage of Skinner's mishandling of the puck behind the Oilers net to score his fourth of the year and provide Detroit with a three-goal lead. The goal would stand as the eventual game-winner.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Skinner had plenty of big saves in the first period but his best was on Adam Erne and Givani Smith in what was a hectic sequence for the puck-stopper. Erne found himself 1-on-1 with Skinner in the slot, being denied by the goaltender's pad on the initial attack. Skinner stayed active to thwart Smith's follow-up from the side of the net.
After facing 16 shots in the first, the keeper was peppered with another 13 in the middle period. His key stop of the frame came when Michael Rasmussen jumped into the rush after a penalty and tried to slip a shot 5-hole unsuccessfully. He then dished a pass to Robby Fabbri for a quick one-timer from Main St, which Skinner also got.
Honourable mention goes to Skinner's beautiful leg save on forward Lucas Raymond in the third period. The rookie made a nifty high-slot deflection but Skinner got across and into the butterfly position to turn the attempt aside, keeping the game well within reach at 3-2.

TOP PERFORMER

With two markers on the evening, Red Wings forward Namestnikov is the game's top performer. The winger struck first blood in the opening period with a strong drive to the net and deposited a rebound in the second period for his seventh of the year.

PARTING WORDS

McDavid's evaluation of the loss:
"Didn't love it. Didn't love the start and dug ourselves in a hole again. I liked our response and liked our third period. We definitely had enough chances to tie the game but we can't keep digging ourselves in that type of hole."
McDavid on goaltender Skinner's second career NHL start:
"I thought he was good. I thought he did a good job of letting us get into the game. Obviously, by the time we found our legs, we were already down by three. I thought he battled hard and we definitely didn't make it easy on him in front of him. I thought he was good. He played well and obviously had a mistake there but everyone makes mistakes. That's just the way it is."

Goaltender Skinner on misplaying the puck on Larkin's game-winning goal:
"Just fanned on it. Hard fan, bad timing. If that didn't happen, we'd probably potentially still be playing. It sucks. It was a big goal. At the same time, it happens. Move forward and make sure it doesn't happen again.
"Believe it or not, I've made a worse play before in my career and we ended up winning the game. I just kind of look back to that. There's always a chance to come back and win a game. We battled really hard in the third period and almost got it."
Skinner's self-assessment after career game No. 2:
"For me, I felt like I belonged. I think that's huge. Playing my first game was a little shaky. After this game, I feel a lot better about my game... I've been preparing for this for quite some time now. I felt like I was game-ready. I think that was a huge help going into my second NHL start."