Vegas send coolers out to stifle Oilers, 3-1

In Las Vegas, for the all the world, it looked like the Edmonton Oilers would extend their win streak to 17 games on Tuesday night.Connor McDavid put the Oilers up, 1-0 at 4:35 of the first period.

“We had a lot of things go right obviously,” McDavid said. “Winning 16 straight, you have to have things go well and you have to get some bounces. And we got some bounces, but I thought we went out and earned our bounces and earned our luck. Tonight, we didn’t go out and get it. Credit to them, they make a shot and they’re able to clog it up enough to get it done.”

Vegas replied by locking the Oilers down on the defensive side of the game, and scored three unanswered goals in 3-1 win to the Golden Knights.

Adin Hill made 30 saves in the win.

“He was really good tonight,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said of Hill. “We don’t win the game without his performance. He earned his paycheck tonight.”

The Golden Knights moved to 30-15-6.

“I wasn’t really focused on [the streak]. I mean, they’re hot over there, and they had won however many in a row,” Hill said. “I was more focused on just playing our game tonight and trying to get two points. It’s a big rivalry, and for us to do it with a couple guys that were missing in our lineup is huge.”

The Knights’ Nicolas Roy tied the game, 1-1, at 18:09 of the first period.

Chandler Stephenson scored what would prove to be the game-winner at at 1:24 of the middle frame for a 2-1 lead to the Golden Knights.

The Oilers dropped to 29-16-1.

“I liked a lot of things about our game, unfortunately we came up a little short,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I think the big turning point was the late goal they scored in the first period, and then for us it was just missed opportunities, whether it was just [hitting] goal posts or their goalie coming up big or missing an empty net. I think the chances were there; I think it was one of our better games that we played in the last two or three weeks.”

William Karlsson hit an empty net with 33 seconds left in regulation for the 3-1 final count on the scoreboard.

“At the end of the day, it’s two points for us,” Karlsson said. “That’s how we get to look at it. I’m sure they’re bummed because they could have written history. I know the feeling actually because I was with [the Columbus Blue Jackets] back in the day (2016-2017) when we had that [16-game win streak] going. It was a bummer whenever we lost.”