It started that way on Tuesday, but it wasn’t long before the Oilers found themselves scrambling in their own end, making ill-advised pinches at the opposition’s blue line, and giving goalie Tristan Jarry very little help in front of the net.
Jarry, for his part, admitted he needed to be better after giving up six goals on 23 shots. But he faced breakaways, odd-man rushes and open men in front all game.
“I think for myself I have to be better in those aspects, too,” Jarry said. “Just talking about my game, I need one or two of those. I think that’s the game changer there and that puts us in a better place.”
With the score tied 2-2 heading into the third period, Vancouver seemingly put the game away when it scored three goals in the span of 4:05, culminating with Elias Pettersson‘s power-play goal at 5:15.
However, in typical Oilers fashion, their high-powered offense allowed them to battle back and force overtime.
Evan Bouchard was perhaps the biggest reason why, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists for a five-point night. Vasily Podkolzin also scored twice in the third, including tying the game with a power-play goal with 43 seconds left.
Yet the game-winning goal was conceded following another defensive lapse at 1:59 of overtime. Canucks forward Paul Cotter forced a turnover by Ryan Shea along the left boards, and he was then given an open lane to the net, where he received a pass from Max Sasson before lifting a backhand past Jarry.
“You can tell it was our first regular-season game,” Bouchard said. “We have to be a lot more detailed than that. Giving up odd-man rushes, giving up five or six (goals), isn’t going to cut it.”
