You just know your season is going nowhere when you lose to the Buffalo Sabres. On Friday, the Edmonton Oilers lost their fourth in the last five, this time, 3-1, to the Sabres who snapped a seven-game skid of their own.
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Kyle Okposo scored once and had two points in the win.
“I think that we did a good job just sticking to our game plan and really every line was playing extremely well in the offensive zone,” Okposo said. “Our [defense] did a great job getting the puck up to us and [goalie Robin Lehner] did a great job.”
Jacob Josefson also scored for Buffalo.
“It’s good when everybody can contribute a little bit,” Josefson said. “It’s good for us other guys to chip in, too.”
Jack Eichel scored to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead during the game.
“I thought a lot of guys showed desperation tonight,” Eichel said. “A guy like Kyle Okposo, obviously, he’s been working really hard as of late. It’s nice to see him get rewarded with an empty-netter. I thought he played a great game. Those are some key plays he made for us.”
This was a match filled with urgency on both benches and neither team really answered the bell; it was more a case of the Sabres’ number coming up.
“Maybe the urgency was there and we just didn’t get it done,” Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. “That’s a judgment call. I think it can be better, but if our group thinks that’s enough then we’re on the short end. Again, I think our guys have the wont to do it. Can we get it done at the pace that we’re executing at. We have to make things happen a lot faster, in my opinion, defensively and offensively.”
The Oilers dropped to 8-13-2 with the loss and the Sabres “improved” to 6-13-4.
“It’s one game, so obviously we need to carry this,” he said. “I think seeing the way we could play tonight, I think more than anything it should be a bit of a boost to everyone in the room, a little confidence. When we play the right way, when we do the right things, it’s rewarding. Just got to try to find that consistency.”
Yohann Auvitu had the lone goal for the Oilers in the loss.
Robin Lehner made 29 saves for the rare Buffalo win.
[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Sabres highlights]
Laurent Brossoit took the loss on 28 saves.
“It’s a hard league to win in no matter who you’re playing. You could be playing the top-ranked team or the worst-ranked team; it’s going to be a hard game. It’s a hard league to win in and tonight they were a better hockey team,” Edmonton’s Connor McDavid said after the loss.
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