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

Edmonton scores three power-play goals, while Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl get four points each against Habs.

Canadiens' Evgenii Dadonov (63) is checked by Edmonton Oilers' Brett Kulak (27) during first period NHL action in Edmonton on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022.
Canadiens' Evgenii Dadonov (63) is checked by Edmonton Oilers' Brett Kulak (27) during first period NHL action in Edmonton on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. Photo by Jason Franson /THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON — Before Saturday night’s game at Rogers Place, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis was asked what impresses him most about Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid.

“Obviously, his speed,” St. Louis said. “But everything’s connected. His feet are going fast, but his brain is reading things and it seems so slow the way he can process. And then his hands are connected. His hands and his feet are doing exactly what his brain is reading. To be able to read all that at the pace that he’s going, that’s elite.”

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It’s hard enough to stop McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — the second member of Edmonton’s dynamic duo — playing at five-on-five. It’s basically impossible if you keep giving them power plays.

That’s what happened during this game as the Oilers beat the Canadiens 5-3 with three of their goals coming on the power play — including two at five-on-three.

McDavid scored twice, while Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse added singles for the Oilers, who improved their record to 14-11-0.

Nick Suzuki, Evgenii Dadonov and Arber Xhekaj scored for the Canadiens as their record fell to 12-11-1 and their streak of three straight road wins came to an end.

It looked like it was going to be another busy night for Canadiens goalie Jake Allen when he stopped Zach Hyman on a breakaway only 18 seconds into the game. Allen made 45 saves in the Canadiens’ 2-1 win over the Flames on Thursday night in Calgary.

But the Canadiens ended up outshooting the Oilers 8-4 in the first period and took a 1-0 lead when Suzuki scored a power-play goal at the 16:37 mark. It marked the third time in four games the Canadiens have scored on the power play and it was Suzuki’s 13th goal of the season, tying him for the team lead with Cole Caufield.

The Canadiens took the 1-0 lead into the intermission, but Allen’s teammates didn’t do him any favours in the second period with a series of bad penalties that resulted in three straight power-play goals for the Oilers.

The Oilers tied it up 1-1 at the 1:25 mark when Nugent-Hopkins scored on a beautiful setup from Draisaitl. The goal came shortly after the Canadiens had finished killing off 28 seconds of a five-on-three advantage for the Oilers with Xhekaj in the penalty box for tripping and Joel Edmundson sitting beside him after a cross-checking call.

Draisaitl put the Oilers up 2-1 at 6:27 on a five-on-three power play after Kirby Dach was penalized for holding at 5:08 and then Edmundson received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for cross-checking at 5:20. Suzuki gave the Oilers yet another five-on-three power play when he was penalized for closing his hand on the puck at 8:55 and McDavid scored 41 seconds later.

But this young, rebuilding Canadiens team showed yet again they never give up. Dadonov cut the Oilers lead to 3-2 at 13:26 of the second period with his second goal of the season and then Xhekaj tied it up 3-3 with his fourth goal of the season at 16:38 on a power play. Joel Armia picked up an assist on Dadonov’s goal for his first point in 13 games this season.

The wild second period wasn’t over yet and Nurse put the Oilers up 4-3 when he scored with only five seconds left on the clock.

Armia came close to scoring his first goal of the season when he hit the crossbar five minutes into the third period and then McDavid sealed the victory for the Oilers when he scored on a breakaway at 14:40 with Draisaitl picking up an assist.

McDavid finished the game with two goals and two assists and he leads the NHL in scoring with 21-26-47 totals. Draisaitl had a goal and three assists and moved into second place in NHL scoring with 17-25-42 totals. In 22 career games against the Canadiens, McDavid has 8-21-29 totals, while Draisaitl has 10-19-29 totals in 23 games against Montreal.

These two teams will meet for the second and final time this season on Feb. 12 at the Bell Centre.

It would be a good idea for the Canadiens to stay out of the penalty box.

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1