The Edmonton Oilers returned dwelling from their quick four-game street journey to tackle the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night time (April 9) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. This was the ultimate regular-season matchup between these two groups, with the Oilers taking each by scores of 4-2 and 3-2 in OT.
Associated: Projected Lineups for Blues vs Oilers — 4/9/25
Each groups got here into this one with precisely 93 factors and a chance to clinch a playoff spot.
The Oilers began this recreation clinging to 3rd place within the Pacific Division, 4 factors again of the second-place Los Angeles Kings. They had been 5-4-1 of their final 10 and had been seeking to keep away from shedding three straight.
The Blues got here into this matchup in fourth place within the Central Division and firmly holding onto the highest wild card spot. They had been a surprising 9-1-0 of their final 10 and contemporary off their 12-game successful streak being snapped by the Winnipeg Jets.
The Oilers would steal this one 4-3. Right here’s your recreation recap.
Sport Recap
The primary eight minutes of the sport had been pretty quiet and tight-checking, with not a number of nice probabilities. Nonetheless, a scramble for a free puck in entrance of the Blues’ web noticed Corey Perry and Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington commerce blows, which in flip led to Perry and Blues ahead Jake Neighbours dropping the gloves for a short second. The Oilers ended up with an influence play from the melee, but it surely was a shorthanded 2-on-1 that allowed Ryan Suter to pot his second of the season and provides St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Instantly after the purpose, Edmonton’s Jeff Skinner obtained a 10-minute misconduct for letting the officers hear a few missed name.
The strain died down after all of the chaos within the center a part of the interval, with some chirping right here and there. A stable tempo of play developed into the break. The one notable occasion was a Connor McDavid hooking penalty with simply over two minutes left, nonetheless, the Blues couldn’t make the most of the decision. The interval ended 1-0 in favour of the guests, as did the photographs, 8-5.
The second interval kicked off with an Oilers purpose simply 1:30 in from Connor Brown off a pair of sloppy turnovers from the Blues’ defence. The groups would commerce probabilities forwards and backwards for the following stretch with each goalies stopping some nice photographs. The Oilers would then take the lead simply previous midway via the interval when Vasily Podkolzin banged dwelling a rebound off a Darnell Nurse level shot. The remainder of the interval had some extra probabilities at each ends, however the rating remained 2-1 for Edmonton. The photographs had been 16-12 in favour of St. Louis.
Jordan Kyrou kickstarted the third interval simply 14 seconds in, discovering some open area and ripping a shot previous Oilers’ goalie Calvin Pickard for his thirty fourth of the season. Nonetheless, only a minute and a half later, Viktor Arvidsson discovered a free puck and took the lead proper again for Edmonton throughout a delayed penalty. The motion continued because the Oilers had nice alternatives from McDavid and Max Jones to increase the lead, however Binnington stood tall. Pavel Buchnevich jammed one dwelling lower than 4 minutes after Arvidsson’s purpose to assist his goalie out and tie the sport as soon as once more. Jeff Skinner was almost capable of break the impasse for Edmonton, however slid it proper via the crease in a one-on-one with Cam Fowler.
Late within the interval, chaos ensued. Nathan Walker took a tripping penalty to provide the Oilers an opportunity to win, nonetheless, McDavid took a holding minor simply three seconds into the ability play to arrange four-on-four hockey till roughly 30 seconds left. Each groups performed it comparatively secure, kind of ready it out till extra time. Walker hopped out of the field and was sprung on a partial breakaway, however was disrupted by a diving Nurse. The play circled rapidly, and McDavid fed Brown for his second of the night time with simply 21 seconds to play. The Blues had one closing push with what little time they’d left, but it surely wasn’t sufficient. The Oilers ended up successful 4-3 in an absolute thriller, with the ultimate photographs on purpose in favour of the Blues 26-23.
There have been some star-studded performances on this one. McDavid recorded three assists in his return from damage, together with a no-look feed on the game-winner. Brown had two objectives, as talked about, and Nurse additionally had a pair of helpers. For the Blues, Buchnevich had a purpose and two assists, Kyrou had a purpose and an help, and Robert Thomas added a few assists as effectively. It was a recreation filled with nice performances.
The Oilers’ subsequent recreation will likely be this Friday, April 11, after they tackle the lowly San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place at 7:30 p.m. MDT.
The Blues’ subsequent recreation will likely be Saturday, April 12, after they wrap up their quick three-game street journey in opposition to the Seattle Kraken at Local weather Pledge Enviornment at 8:00 p.m. MDT.
