Oilers drop OT decision to Islanders

In Elmont the Edmonton Oilers’ woes continued on Saturday afternoon, in a 3-2 loss to the Islanders in extra time. 

The Islanders trailed 1-2 heading to the third period, but Anthony Beauvillier tied the game to force the extra session.

Noah Dobson  hit for the game-winner in overtime.

“It definitely feels great,” Dobson said. “Any time you get a chance to contribute like that in a big game and get a big win, especially on a day like today, it was a great atmosphere, the crowd was buzzing, so I was really happy to score a big one. I’ll definitely remember that one.”

Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves in the New York win.

“I think we were really solid,” New York’s Anders Lee said. “They had a push in the second and we kind of weathered the storm a little bit and they took the lead. I think all-in-all, that’s a good 60 minutes. That’s a good hockey team over there; they have a couple of the best players in the world. We knew what we had to do tonight; to stay above them as much as we could and our defensive play and goaltender were really good.”

The Islanders improved to 10-12-6.

“I’m very proud,” New York’s assistant coach Lane Lamber said. “They’re a good hockey team over there and I though our guys were completely committed to get the job done. I’m very proud.”

Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse  were the Oilers strikers.

“I thought we were pretty good again,” Draisaitl said. “In the third, we dipped a little bit, but other than that in the second, they had nothing. It’s frustrating for sure, but you have to take the point and move on.”

The Oilers dropped to 18-12-2.

“It’s just the consistency, first through the third,” Nurse said. “When we’re on our game, you can put us up there against anybody. But when you put yourself in a position to let teams off the hook, then you’re not going to have success on a nightly basis in this League, the teams and players are just too good.

“Both situations [at New Jersey] you’re going into the third period with the lead. So we’re going into situations where both games we had the lead in the third period. You have to keep that going. You don’t want to lose these games.”

Lee also scored for the Isles in regulation.

“I think we were really solid,” Lee said. “They had a push in the second and we kind of weathered the storm a little bit and they took the lead. I think all-in-all, that’s a good 60 minutes. That’s a good hockey team over there; they have a couple of the best players in the world. We knew what we had to do tonight; to stay above them as much as we could and our defensive play and goaltender were really good.”

Mikko Koskinen made 26 saves in the Edmonton loss.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said. “That’s a tough turnaround when you have back-to-back games in the afternoon. Our guys competed hard right until the end. You can tell we were tired a little bit in the third period, but we hung in there. I give our guys a lot of credit, they competed hard, they played a style they had to play to give ourselves a chance to win and it’s unfortunate we couldn’t get the extra point.”