Edmonton was out shot, out hit, and out worked today. You can chop it up to the bad ice (more than one player blew a tire in center ice) or you can chop it up to continued undisciplined play from Edmonton – take your pick.

For the first half of the game book teams looked dangerous, but once the first goal came it did not take long for the second. Detroit opened the afternoon off a tip-in from Dylan Larkin. Not three minutes later Edmonton took an icing call, and Detroit proceeded to score seconds after winning the faceoff draw. Emmitt Finnie was allowed to take a shot right in between the dots and it was enough to beat Skinner.

Thirty seconds later Noah Philp scored a tip-in assisted by Podkolzin to cut the lead back to one. Noah Philp scored his first NHL goal against the Canucks and was scratched until today – it’ll be a shame if he gets put back in the bleachers after scoring in both appearances this season.

Dylan Larkin beat Stuart Skinner with a wrist shot through the legs to finish up the second period for a goal that Skinner probably wants back.

Kasperi Kapanen went for a big check in his last shift of the second period but missed his target and instead crashed into the boards. He left for the remainder of the game.

Edmonton pushed back in the third period and eventually drew blood. Leon Draisaitl scored a snapshot goal assisted by Brett Kulak and Mattias Ekholm, afterwhich the game turned into pond hockey. Both squads traded chances on both ends of the ice for over ten minutes of ice time with no whistle. Dylan Larkin narrowly missed a hat trick – instead hitting the crossbar, and Draisaitl missed a chance to tie the game on a clean breakaway after overskating the puck in the dying minutes of the third frame.

Ultimately the Oilers would concede the match on an empty net goal for a score of 4-2 Detroit.

In terms of team effort, this game was a huge step up from last. Edmonton pushed back much harder and much earlier than they did in New Jersey. Skinner looked great, aside from the third goal. The third line looked very good until Kapanen went home early.

Still, this team doesn’t have to be dropping three losses in a row. And effort doesn’t mean a ton when you’ve gone three games without a point. Edmonton’s top line got out worked by Detroit’s top line, simple as.

They can be better, and hopefully we see it Tuesday night when the Oilers face off against the Ottawa Senators.