GAME STORY: Canadiens 3, Oilers 1

EDMONTON, AB - The Oilers offence was stymied by Montreal for the second consecutive game as Jake Allen made 25 saves between the Canadiens pipes en route to a 3-1 victory.

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FIRST BLOOD

When Montreal defenceman Alexander Romanov tells his grandkids about his first NHL goal, it'll be a highlight-reel, toe-drag snipe. In actuality, though, it was a bit of a cheeky one as his seeing-eye wrist shot from the point made its way through traffic and between the arm and mid-section of Mikko Koskinen to give the visiting team a 1-0 lead at 9:54 of the opening stanza.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Devin Shore scored his first goal in Oilers silks with 2:09 remaining in the third period, stealing the puck at Montreal's blueline as the Canadiens were on the power play, bursting in alone on Allen and sniping a shorthanded goal to get Edmonton on the board.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Koskinen made 17 saves during the middle frame, none more impressive than his point-blank glove denial on Nick Suzuki with just under five minutes to go in the period. Jonathan Drouin found Suzuki creeping to the slot with a cross-ice pass and the sophomore star scorched a wrist shot, but the Oilers netminder flashed the leather.

TURNING POINT

Montreal extended its lead to 2-0 with just 11 seconds left in the second period on a play that required a coach's challenge to count as a goal. Jeff Petry got tangled up with Shore and Slater Koekkoek as he crashed the crease, ultimately causing Koskinen to fall over just before Shea Weber banked a shot from behind the net off the goalie and in. The referee initially called off the goal due to interference on Koskinen, but Canadiens bench boss Claude Julien issued his challenge, which ultimately led to the on-ice decision getting overturned.

TOP PERFORMER

The entire Montreal penalty-killing corps takes this honour as they withstood all seven man-advantage opportunities from an Oilers power-play group that led the NHL in 2019-20 with an exceptional 29.5% success rate. Allen finished with 25 saves, Petry logged the most PK time at 6:22 and Artturi Lehkonen put the cherry on top with his shorthanded goal.

NEXT UP

After starting the season with four consecutive home games at Rogers Place, the Oilers will now hit the road for two matchups in Toronto and two more in Winnipeg, starting with Wednesday's 5pm MT puck-drop against the Maple Leafs.

PARTING WORDS

"We had tons of opportunities on the power play and we've got to find a way to put those in," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said of his team's PP struggles as they came up empty on seven chances.
"I think it'll be good for our team to go on the road," Head Coach Dave Tippett on the team's upcoming four-game trip. "We haven't played a road game since last March. Hopefully a change of atmosphere, change of arena will allow us to play some strong road hockey and find a way to win."