About Last Night: Habs run into penalty trouble in Oilers loss

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl teamed up for eight points as the Edmonton Oilers posted a 5-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl teamed up for eight points in a 5-3 win for the Oilers against the Canadiens at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday night.

The Habs gave up three consecutive power play goals in the second period. Joel Edmundson was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a cross-check on Zach Hyman.

The story of the first period was native son Kaiden Guhle. The Sherwood Park native was buzzing at both ends of the ice early on with friends and family in attendance. The highlight was not allowing McDavid at full speed to pass him. Doesn’t happen often that 97 gets held up like that.

Nick Suzuki opened scoring with the lone goal of the first. It came on the power play only seconds after Cole Caufield missed a wide open net.

The penalty troubles started with under a minute left in the first when Arber Xhekaj was sent to the box for a trip on McDavid. Then 42 seconds into the second, Edmundson went to the box for high-sticking, giving Edmonton a 5-on-3 man-advantage. They responded with a game-tying goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

The Habs were shorthanded again when Kirby Dach went to the box, followed by Edmundson’s five-minute major and misconduct for drawing blood from Hyman after a cross-check along the boards. The Oiler power play went to work again 5-on-3, with McDavid and Draisaitl teaming up to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead.

With the Habs penalty killing almost in the clear, Nick Suzuki made a rare poor decision throwing the puck up on ice, giving Edmonton yet another 5-on-3. McDavid scored his 20th on the season.

A couple of slumping forwards then teamed up to spark the Habs. Joel Armia made the initial shot and Evgenii Dadonov pounced on the rebound to pull Montreal to within one at 3-2.

Then on the power play, Xhekaj tied things up 3-3 with an accurate wrister. Juraj Slafkovsky assisted on the goal.

The Habs were about to enter the second intermission with all the momentum, but Darnell Nurse broke the tie for the Oilers with 4 seconds left in the frame. Johnathan Kovacevic lost the puck behind the net in the final moments.

In the third, McDavid delivered the final dagger to put his team up 5-3. He undressed Jake Allen on a breakaway.

The Habs played a near flawless first period on the road, but in the second faltered when they gave the league’s two most talented offensive players one too many opportunities on the power play. They were also down a veteran defenceman with Edmundson tossed. The Liveblog commenters do their fair share of armchair refereeing — and we wouldn’t have it any other way — but as commenter Ryan Katz observed, if McDavid gets multiple points against you, you’re probably not winning.

1. 

   Penalties prove costly for Canadiens in 5-3 loss to Oilers

2. 

   In the Habs Room: Oilers' McDavid and Draisaitl 'difficult to handle'

Meanwhile, Xhekaj has four goals and counting. Could he hit double-digits in his first NHL season? A potentially impressive feat for a rookie defenceman.

3. “Well, the pattern holds. Win or lose, this team is fun to watch. And let’s face it: how many years did Montreal go 0-for-Alberta? We took 2 of 4 possible points. I’m not going to complain.” -Michael Way

2. “Arber gets better EVERY game he plays. The kid WANTS to be a Hab…fulltime!”  -Michael Paul

1. “That’s what happens when you become undisciplined and unglued. A game in which Habs were controlling and realistically could have easily won. But instead reacted as most middling bottom feeder teams do. MSL has his hands full with this bunch. Far to free wheeling for a group that’s barely a 500 team. Details matter.” -Mark Real Smith