Edmonton led the game 1-0 for 55 minutes in Tampa Bay, but the Lightning were able to tie the game late and win it in overtime thanks to a clutch performance from Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Trent Frederic found the lone Edmonton goal 90 seconds into the first period. After a quick zone entry with Leon Draisaitl Frederic fired a shot through Vasilevskiy.

The Oilers played a great game, despite the loss. Edmonton maintained aggression and forced Tampa Bay to make some uncomfortable decisions in their own end. Vasilevskiy held down the net long enough for his squad to tie the game, and it took almost the entirety of regulation to do it.

Tampa Bay found the tying goal courtesy of Nick Paul, who was able to cut into the slot from the right side to backhand a shot over Calvin Pickard. A sore spot for Edmonton’s defence this season is there ability to block players from entering the high danger shot zone.

Edmonton came within inches of ending the game in overtime, but Vasilevskiy made a heroic save on Jack Roslovic and the Lightning ended the game the other way shortly after.

Losing a game after leading for the entire game stings, but this loss is about as good as a loss can get. Edmonton got a point, for one, but they also played a strong game overall. Edmonton played aggresively after their goal, and they never let off the gas enough for the Lightning to completely take over. Some promising stats: the Oilers won 57% of the nights faceoffs, and killed off 3 penalties with relative ease. Calvin Pickard also ended the night with a 0.943 SV – it’s just unfortunate that the team couldn’t get him the shutout for the night.

The team will have to settle for a single point and perhaps a moral victory that they played better than they did in Washington. At this point in the season, moral victories aren’t worth a ton though. The Oilers will have to reset and push hard so they can finish their road trip with a win in Sunrise.