It was a complete dud for the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday night in Montreal.
Their head coach said as much too.
“We didn’t start very well, we didn’t play very well, and we didn’t end very well,” said Dave Tippett. “That’s about it.”
The Oilers mustered only 16 shots on goal in a 4-0 loss to the Canadiens.
“When you don’t have it, you just try to chase anything to see if you can find a little spark somewhere,” said Tippett.
The Canadiens were all over the Oilers early. Jesperi Kotkaniemi beat Mikko Koskinen just 18 seconds into the game. The goal stood after the Oilers unsuccessfully challenged for offside.
The Oilers killed off the resulting delay of penalty but Artturi Lehkonen would make it 2-0 shortly after. Brendan Gallagher swiped a loose puck in the crease later in the period to put the Habs up three.
Connor McDavid beat Carey Price with a wrist shot in the second but the goal came off the board after video review showed that Jesse Puljujarvi was offside on the zone entry.
“I liked our two games in Toronto,” said McDavid. “I didn’t like our one here tonight.”
Tomas Tatar ripped home a shot late in the frame to make it 4-0.
It was the Canadiens’ first game since March 20. The team had four games postponed after two players went into COVID-19 protocol.
McDavid had his point streak end after getting 23 points in 11 games.
This game also saw the end of McDavid’s point streak. In the past 11 games, the Oilers captain and the NHL’s leading scorer had racked up 23 points.
The Oilers, 22-14-1, will host Calgary on Friday.
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