Giving Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers too many good scoring chances can make it harder for most National League teams, and the Montreal Canadiens learned that the hard way on Saturday at Rogers Place, losing 5-3.
The indiscipline hurt especially the CH, who had to make do with a deficit of two players three times, and that only in the first half of the second third. Defenseman Joel Edmundson didn’t help his cause in that department, first receiving a small penalty for high stick against Leon Draisaitl before receiving a large penalty and in-game misconduct for giving Zach Hyman a countercheck.
The crowd favorite scored three times on the power play in the first half of the middle frame, twice with two other men. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl and McDavid in turn cheated on Jake Allen’s vigilance.
Darnell Nurse also added his two cents to the Oilers’ glory days, shaking the ropes with just five seconds left in the fight.
McDavid completed the goal in the third period and added four points to the game, as did Draisaitl.
Allen looked pretty bad, allowing five goals from 22 shots.
In spite of everything
3 to 1 after this wave of penalties in the second period, the Canadian didn’t give up. So he was able to create the tie.
In just over three minutes, Evgenii Dadonov and Arber Xhekaj equalized on the power play.
The Canadian also did well with a man’s advantage as Nick Suzuki also netted in the first third in similar circumstances.
Goalkeeper Stuart Skinner still had the last laugh, stopping 30 of 33 shots he faced.
The Canadians will continue their journey in western Canada with a stopover in Vancouver to face the Canucks on Monday.