The Edmonton Oilers returned home from their short four-game road trip to take on the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night (April 9) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. This was the final regular-season matchup between these two teams, with the Oilers taking both by scores of 4-2 and 3-2 in OT.
Both teams came into this one with exactly 93 points and an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot.
The Oilers started this game clinging to third place in the Pacific Division, four points back of the second-place Los Angeles Kings. They were 5-4-1 in their last 10 and were looking to avoid losing three straight.
The Blues came into this matchup in fourth place in the Central Division and firmly holding onto the top wild card spot. They were a stunning 9-1-0 in their last 10 and fresh off their 12-game winning streak being snapped by the Winnipeg Jets.
The Oilers would steal this one 4-3. Here’s your game recap.
Game Recap
The first eight minutes of the game were fairly quiet and tight-checking, with not a lot of great chances. However, a scramble for a loose puck in front of the Blues’ net saw Corey Perry and Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington trade blows, which in turn led to Perry and Blues forward Jake Neighbours dropping the gloves for a brief moment. The Oilers ended up with a power play from the melee, but it was a shorthanded 2-on-1 that allowed Ryan Suter to pot his second of the season and give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Immediately after the goal, Edmonton’s Jeff Skinner received a 10-minute misconduct for letting the officials hear about a missed call.
The tension died down after all the chaos in the middle part of the period, with some chirping here and there. A solid pace of play developed into the break. The only notable event was a Connor McDavid hooking penalty with just over two minutes left, however, the Blues could not take advantage of the call. The period ended 1-0 in favour of the visitors, as did the shots, 8-5.
The second period kicked off with an Oilers goal just 1:30 in from Connor Brown off a pair of sloppy turnovers from the Blues’ defence. The teams would trade chances back and forth for the next stretch with both goalies stopping some great shots. The Oilers would then take the lead just past halfway through the period when Vasily Podkolzin banged home a rebound off a Darnell Nurse point shot. The rest of the period had some more chances at both ends, but the score remained 2-1 for Edmonton. The shots were 16-12 in favour of St. Louis.
Jordan Kyrou kickstarted the third period just 14 seconds in, finding some open space and ripping a shot past Oilers’ goalie Calvin Pickard for his 34th of the season. However, just a minute and a half later, Viktor Arvidsson found a loose puck and took the lead right back for Edmonton during a delayed penalty. The action continued as the Oilers had great opportunities from McDavid and Max Jones to extend the lead, but Binnington stood tall. Pavel Buchnevich jammed one home less than four minutes after Arvidsson’s goal to help his goalie out and tie the game once again. Jeff Skinner was nearly able to break the deadlock for Edmonton, but slid it right through the crease in a one-on-one with Cam Fowler.
Late in the period, chaos ensued. Nathan Walker took a tripping penalty to give the Oilers a chance to win, however, McDavid took a holding minor just three seconds into the power play to set up four-on-four hockey until roughly 30 seconds left. Both teams played it relatively safe, sort of waiting it out until overtime. Walker hopped out of the box and was sprung on a partial breakaway, but was disrupted by a diving Nurse. The play turned around quickly, and McDavid fed Brown for his second of the night with just 21 seconds to play. The Blues had one final push with what little time they had left, but it wasn’t enough. The Oilers ended up winning 4-3 in an absolute thriller, with the final shots on goal in favour of the Blues 26-23.
There were some star-studded performances in this one. McDavid recorded three assists in his return from injury, including a no-look feed on the game-winner. Brown had two goals, as mentioned, and Nurse also had a pair of helpers. For the Blues, Buchnevich had a goal and two assists, Kyrou had a goal and an assist, and Robert Thomas added a couple of assists as well. It was a game full of great performances.
The Oilers’ next game will be this Friday, April 11, when they take on the lowly San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place at 7:30 p.m. MDT.
The Blues’ next game will be Saturday, April 12, when they wrap up their short three-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena at 8:00 p.m. MDT.
