The Preds took on the powerhouse Oilers today, and it went about as might have been expected, despite valiant efforts by numerous Preds players–some great chances by Filip Forsberg, some heroic saves by Kevin Lankinen, and more bad luck for the snakebitten Luke Evangelista.
Corey Perry started off by jabbing at Lankinen with his stick; Luke Schenn didn’t much like it. No penalties were called on the interaction, and play continued. A series of good chances for Edmonton–and good saves from Lankinen–and a missed trip by Roman Josi on Connor McDavid were followed up by a Jeremy Lauzon holding penalty.
Cole Smith opened the penalty kill with a shorthanded chance that rang iron, but the Oilers came roaring back. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins capped it off with a goal just over a minute into the power play, with assists–inevitably–from Leon Draisaitl and McDavid. The Preds got a power play of their own a few minutes later, when Zach Hyman skated into Lankinen, but the Oilers’ defense was excellent and up to the task. Evangelista had a great shot stopped by Stuart Skinner; he’s had rotten luck lately.
Hyman counterattacked as he left the box, but Lankinen was able to make the save on a chance so good the crowd was already getting ready to cheer the goal. With 3:18 left in the period, Filip Forsberg was called for high-sticking during a puck battle, and the Preds were shorthanded again. This time, they were able to kill it off, with good defense from the whole penalty-killing crew, and made it to intermission without giving up anything further.
The second period started with a questionable hit against Gustav Nyquist against the open penalty box door, then a lucky block in a scramble in front of Lankinen that kept the Oilers from making it 2-0 yet. The Preds got another power-play chance when Draisaitl interfered with Lauzon, but weren’t able to take advantage of Draisaitl’s enforced absence.
Nashville did push back some as the period continued, but then the Oilers recovered, and Lauzon took another penalty for a mistimed hit. A great cross-ice pass from Nugent-Hopkins set Draisaitl up to get the 2-0 score for real this time, at 11:39 of the second. Ryan O’Reilly then managed to get hooked by Darnell Nurse, returning the Preds to the power play, but again they weren’t able to accomplish anything with it.
The same went for the rest of the period, as a few Preds chances fizzled out at the net. Lankinen had to make a big save way out of his net early in the third, and Cody Glass almost broke the shutout about six minutes in. Skinner had to make a few more saves on a Nashville flurry, but when the Oilers counterattacked McDavid banked a shot in off Lankinen to make it 3-0 at 9:11.
Nashville counterattacked, and the bad luck continued as Tommy Novak collected an Evangelista pass and rang iron. Colton Sissons finally got the Preds on the board, finishing off a very stubborn shift–and getting Evangelista the primary assist he’d missed on the Novak shot–at 13:25. The Oilers tried to strike right back, and Lankinen made a quick save on Hyman. Nyquist almost got the Preds within one in response, but shot just wide.
The Preds continued to press, and with over four minutes to go Lankinen was already looking for the pull, which came right around the four-minute mark. Hyman scored his thirtieth of the season into the empty net, despite a great defensive effort by Evangelista, making it 4-1 with 3:20 remaining in the period. That was the game, though the remainder of the period still had to be played out.