November 8, 2022 by Ryan Lotsberg

Prior to Tuesday evening, the Edmonton Oilers had not won a game in Tampa Bay since March 22, 2012. That nine game losing streak was snapped with a 3-2 Oilers victory at Amalie Arena.

The most important development in this game was the injury to Evander Kane. Patrick Maroon accidentally stepped on Kane’s wrist while Kane was down on the ice. Kane sustained a deep cut on his wrist, and he will have surgery to repair the injury. That was a scary incident. I’m happy to hear that he will make a full recovery.

Call Outs:

There are two consistent themes for the 2022-23 Oilers that showed up again in this one. The first is slow starts. The Oilers got the first goal, but the Tampa Bay Lightning took the first ten shots of the game. Once again, they didn’t start the game on time. They were at least able to withstand that early flurry by the Lightning.

The other theme is a failure to tie up sticks in front of the net. Darnell Nurse was unable to tie up Alex Killorn’s stick as he went to the net. Killorn tipped a pass from the point in for a goal. That got the Lightning within one of the Oilers early in the third period. That gave the Lightning life. Tying up sticks in front of the net is a small detail that can have big consequences if not executed. This detail has escaped Oilers defenders a lot this season.

Standouts:

The biggest standouts were the medical staff at Amalie Arena. Doctors from both teams as well as paramedics in the building were quick to respond to Kane’s injury, and they ensured that he received quality care.

Warren Foegele had a tough night Monday in Washington, but he rebounded nicely on Tuesday. He opened the scoring with a big shorthanded goal, his first goal of the season. You could see the frustration being released from Foegele’s body as he celebrated his first goal in 32 games including the playoffs last season. He had two shots, four hits, and a blocked shot. He had a couple other scoring chances too. He was above 50% in all the major underlying statistical categories in this one. This was Foegele’s best game of the season so far. 

Oh yeah, Connor McDavid got another two points in this game too.

Shout Outs:

Jack Campbell was solid. He kept the team in the game when they allowed the first ten shots of the game, and he shut the door at the end of the game. He didn’t allow any questionable goals either. 35 saves in a 3-2 win is a good night’s work for Campbell. Hopefully this game is a sign of things to come after calling his performance this season “pathetic” after his last start.

Ryan Murray made a goal line save in the third period. Maroon tried to jam the puck in near the post, but it went up after hitting Campbell’s pad. The puck bounced on the goal line, and Murray swiped it off the line. It was initially called a goal on the ice, but the replay confirmed that the puck did not cross the line. It was a huge save in a 3-2 game!

The penalty kill came up big. They killed off all five Lightning powerplays, which marks just the second time all season that the Oilers didn’t allow a powerplay goal. They even added a shorthanded goal! One powerplay goal against would’ve sent the game to overtime, so it was important for them to kill every single one of them.

Also, a shout out to the Oilers team as a whole for not allowing the Kane situation to distract them from the task at hand. They had to play with ten forwards after a scary incident involving a teammate, which is always tough. They earned an important win that ended a lengthy losing streak at a particular arena and that snapped a three game losing streak.

The Oilers will be in Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.