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Another slow start dooms Oilers in Detroit against Red Wings

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So, all those coaches for all those years were right all along.

It turns out you CAN’T play 20 minutes and win a hockey game.

Goalie Stuart Skinner was fantastic, give or take a puck-handling error that ended up in his own net, but his Edmonton Oilers teammates were not close to worthy of the two points Tuesday in Detroit, thoroughly outplayed for the opening 40 minutes in a 4-2 loss to the Red Wings.

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“Didn’t like the start,” began Connor McDavid, whose team trailed 3-0 until Jesse Puljujarvi scored with 35 seconds left in the second period. “We dug ourselves a hole again. Loved the response, but we can’t keep digging that kind of a hole.”

Edmonton trailed the New York Rangers 4-1 on Friday night, before storming back to win 6-5 in overtime. After opening a five-game road trip in Detroit, a grumpy head coach Dave Tippett did not see any similarities between the two efforts.

“Last game was different. We were down 4-1 but we were still in the game,” he said. “Not enough urgency not enough execution tonight. They played a desperate first period and we didn’t match that.”

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Though McDavid scored a goal to stretch his points streak to 19 games going back to last season, one run that died in Motown Tuesday came on the power play, as Edmonton failed to notch a goal for the first time all season, going 0-for-2. That’s a franchise record that stops at 10 games.

Vlad Namestnikov walked Tyson Barrie wide on the first Detroit goal, then he stood in the slot and poked home a rebound while defenceman Evan Bouchard stood next to him, admiring the Detroit forward’s fine form. Then Skinner’s gaffe made it 3-0, and the Oilers just couldn’t climb all the way back.

“Never lose two in a row,” said McDavid, whose club is still a lofty 9-2. “That’s the focus now.”

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Tasty Stu

There was some good news for Edmonton on Tuesday with the performance of Skinner, who made his second NHL start in the nets. He looked far more comfortable than his maiden start last season, and despite a puck-handling miscue that gave Dylan Larkin a freebie, Skinner looked far more comfortable than he had in his only NHL start last season.

“Much better,” the 23-year-old Edmonton native said. “It felt like I just went out there and do what I normally do. It felt better to have (AHL) games before I actually played.”

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Skinner sat on the bench for seven games watching Mikko Koskinen before getting this start, and got his team to the dressing room down only 1-0 after a first period in which Detroit outshot Edmonton 16-9 and owned the puck. It was a 2-0 game 14 minutes into the second when Skinner fanned on a puck behind his own net.

As he tried to recoup, Larkin lifted Skinner’s goal stick and tapped home one of the easiest goals of his long career for a 3-0 Red Wings lead.

“Honestly, I just fanned on it,” Skinner said. “Hard fan, bad timing. If that didn’t happen we’d potentially still be playing (in overtime), so obviously it sucks … At the same time it happens. Move forward and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

A young goalie could be crushed by such a play, but Skinner bounced back after that giveaway, giving his team plenty of time to catch up.

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“Believe it or not,” Skinner smiled, “I’ve made a worse play before in my career and we ended up winning the game. I just looked back to that, and there’s always a chance to come back in a game. We almost got it.”

They didn’t deserve it, but indeed Edmonton nearly pushed this game into OT. They owned the Wings for the final 10 minutes, but it was Detroit that finally got the empty-netter.

The Red Wings deserved the two points. They were the better team for 40 minutes.

Zack is Back — On I.R.?

Zack Kassian got moved up to the second line, a rare tour in the Top 6 for a guy who is pretty much a prototype for what you want in a third-line winger. Unfortunately, Kassian never saw the second period after he suffered a “lower body injury” in the first.

In his post-game remarks, Tippett did not have any information on the extent of the injury.

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Kassian played just 27 games last season because of a pair of injuries. He just never got started.

This season he had three goals and five points in his first nine games, and staked his claim on a line with Warren Foegele and Derek Ryan that — though Tippett may tinker during the season — looked very much like a valid post-season third line.

It was time to tinker after a few sub-par games, Tippett said.

“They’ve been very average the last two, three games. We decided to shake it up a bit,” Tippett said. “We were going to try Yamo and Ryan together because they penalty kill together, but Kass goes out of the game early and we really didn’t get a chance to see what we were looking for.”





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Behind Rodney Terry's steady hand, Texas has chance to write a new narrative

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Texas’ recent history has been marked by underachievement. Now, the Longhorns can change all that behind interim coach Rodney Terry.



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Boeser scores go-ahead goal to help Canucks top Stars, sweep season series

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DALLAS — Brock Boeser scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and the Vancouver Canucks held the Dallas Stars scoreless on four power plays, including one late in the third period, for a 3-1 win Saturday night.

Jack Rathbone and Dakota Joshua also scored for Vancouver, which swept the three-game season series against Dallas and has won the past six meetings dating to last season. Thatcher Demko made 19 saves to help the Canucks open a three-game road trip with a victory.

Ryan Suter scored the lone goal for Dallas, which closed out a 1-1-1 homestand.

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With the game tied at 1, the Canucks took control with two goals in the second period.

Boeser’s goal four minutes into the period made it 2-1. Rathbone increased the lead just 1:33 later on a straightaway shot past third-stringer Matt Murray, who was giving the Stars’ Jake Oettinger a night off. Usual backup Scott Wedgewood has been injured the past month.

It could have been worse for the Stars, who survived a power play that included a stretch of 5-on-3 toward the end of the second. The Canucks outshot the Stars 11-4 in the period.

The Stars took a 1-0 lead on Suter’s goal from the blue line despite the Canucks controlling the action for much of the first 10 minutes, including a 5-0 advantage on shots.

Vancouver tied it with a short-handed goal by Joshua with 1:30 left in the opening period. It was the 14th short-handed goal for the Canucks, the most in the NHL. Vancouver has scored 10 short-handed goals in their past 17 games.

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STINGY CANUCKS

The Stars’ Miro Heiskanen set a franchise record with 20 points — four goals, 16 assists — in his previous 12 games, but was held without a point Saturday. The last team to hold him to zero points was also the Canucks on Feb. 27.

UP NEXT

Canucks: at Chicago to face the Blackhawks on Sunday.

Stars: at Chicago to take on the Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

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Maple Leafs take tough loss despite strong start against Hurricanes

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Sebastian Aho scored his team-leading 32nd goal of the season with 2:26 remaining to rescue the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

Aho’s goal came 32 seconds after Auston Matthews’ second goal for Toronto tied the game. Teuvo Teravainen added an empty-net goal.

Brent Burns, Jordan Staal and Stefan Noesen also scored for Carolina, which won for the fourth time in its last eight games to maintain in first place in Metropolitan Division. Jesper Fast and Martin Necas both two assists.

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Pyotr Kochetkov made 41 saves for his first victory in his last three outings.

Calle Jarnkrok had Toronto’s first goal. Matt Murray made 23 saves. Matthews has 36 goals this season, including eight in the last nine games.

Jarnkrok and Matthews scored eight minutes apart in the second period as Toronto erased a 2-0 deficit.

Jarnkrok notched his 18th goal, including six this month. Matthews’ unassisted tally at 12:41 of the second period gave him his 35th goal of the season.

NOTES: Matthews registered nine shots on goal in the second period and 12 total entering the third period. He finished with 15 shots, tying the franchise single-game record. … Through two periods, Carolina had no player with more than three shots. … Toronto had 33 shots through two periods, marking the most for any Carolina opponent in a full game in the last 15 games.

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UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: At Nashville on Sunday.

Hurricanes: Host Boston on Sunday.

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