Honestly, if you just looked at the shot clock, you’d think the Edmonton Oilers absolutely walked away with this one. They didn't. In a game that felt like a 60-minute siege on the New York net, the Oilers ended up on the wrong side of a 1-0 shutout.
Ilya Sorokin was the story.
The New York Islanders goaltender turned aside 35 shots on Thursday night at Rogers Place, frusturating the Oilers' top guns and ending one of the most impressive individual streaks we've seen this season. It was the kind of performance that makes you realize why some people call him the best in the world. He was everywhere. He was calm. And frankly, he was a little bit lucky, too.
Who won the Oilers game last night?
The New York Islanders won the game with a final score of 1-0.
It was a classic "goalie win." The Oilers outshot the Islanders 35-18, nearly doubling New York's output. But as we've seen so many times in hockey, the quality of the chances doesn't always translate to the scoreboard if the man in the crease is seeing beach balls.
Breaking down the 1-0 heartbreaker
For the first two periods, it was a scoreless deadlock. Edmonton had all the momentum. They were buzzing. Zach Hyman was parked in front of the net, Leon Draisaitl was threading passes, and the crowd was just waiting for the dam to break.
It never did.
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The lone goal of the game didn't come until late in the third period. With about eight minutes left, Leon Draisaitl took a tripping penalty—an "unfortunate" one where his stick got caught under a skate. On the ensuing power play, Anthony Duclair rifled home a shot with 6:18 remaining in regulation.
That was it. One mistake, one power play, one goal.
The assists went to Calum Ritchie and Mathew Barzal. For Barzal, it was a massive milestone; that helper was his 500th career point. Doing it in your 576th game is pretty elite company, even if the Edmonton fans weren't exactly in the mood to celebrate with him.
The end of the McDavid streak
Perhaps the biggest bummer for Oilers fans—besides the loss—was seeing Connor McDavid’s point streak come to an end.
McDavid had recorded at least one point in 20 consecutive games. That is an absurd level of consistency. During that stretch, he racked up 19 goals and 27 assists. By hitting the 20-game mark, he joined Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey as the only players in franchise history to pull off a streak that long.
But Sorokin didn't care about history.
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McDavid had his looks. He had his chances. But for the first time in over a month, #97 left the ice without a mark on the scoresheet. It's rare to see him neutralized like that, but when a goalie is in a zone like Sorokin was last night, even the best player in the world can run into a wall.
Sorokin's "Post" game interview
If you ask Ilya Sorokin, he’ll be the first to tell you he had some help from the hardware.
In the third period, the Oilers hit the post twice. Once on an Evan Bouchard blast that actually hit the crossbar and the post before staying out, and again in the final minute when Draisaitl rang a one-timer off the iron with the net empty.
"I didn't see nothing, I just heard the post sound and I thought it was a goal," Sorokin said after the game. "I thought, 'Thank God.'"
It was Sorokin's fifth shutout of the season, which currently leads the NHL. It also broke a massive curse for the Islanders in Edmonton. They hadn't won a game in that building since 2017. In fact, their record in Edmonton since 2007 was a miserable 1-12-0.
To find the last time the Islanders shut out the Oilers in their own barn, you have to go all the way back to Game 1 of the 1983 Stanley Cup Final. Billy Smith was the goalie that night.
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What this means for the Oilers' season
The Oilers now sit at 23-17-8.
They've dropped three of their last four games. While the underlying numbers—the shots, the expected goals, the zone time—all look great, the results are starting to get a little shaky. Connor Ingram played well in the Oilers' net, making 17 saves, but he was simply outdueled.
Edmonton is currently 2nd in the league in goals scored, but their defense is ranked near the bottom (27th) in goals allowed. Last night was an anomaly where the defense actually held firm, but the offense couldn't find the finishing touch.
Next Steps for the Oilers
The team doesn't have much time to dwell on this. They are heading straight into a tough back-to-back weekend.
- The Saturday Night Battle: The Oilers travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks at Rogers Arena. This is a massive divisional game.
- The Recovery: Keep an eye on the power play. Going 0-for-2 against the Islanders hurt, especially when New York capitalized on their only chance.
- Lineup Shifts: Expect Coach Kris Knoblauch to maybe shake up the bottom six. They need more secondary scoring when the big guns get stymied.
Watching your team dominate a game and still lose 1-0 is one of the most frustrating experiences in sports. But if the Oilers keep putting 35 shots on net every night, the wins will come back. They just ran into a goalie who decided he wasn't going to let anything past him. It happens.
Check the Saturday night lineups early, as the quick turnaround to Vancouver usually means some line shuffling or a goaltending change.