NHL scores 2014: Oilers collapse late, Blackhawks take down Blues

Here come the Oilers.

Dec 4, 2014, 2:00 PM UTC

Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

Three minutes.

That was all the time the Oilers had to weather before they finally claimed their first victory against a Western Conference foe. Amazingly, Edmonton had gone winless in the West in fifteen tries. It was a ridiculous streak that had to end at some point.

And it sure looked like Wednesday was going to be the night. For once, the Oilers didn't play like they had just lost 10 consecutive games (which they had). They fought hard to win puck battles against the Jets, rebounded from an early goal against to take the lead and battled to keep it for a good stretch of the game.

If EDM competed like this every night...
— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) December 4, 2014

More than a few fans had to ask that same question. The team looked different. But they still had to get through the final minutes.

And then the Jets tied the game, and everything different was familiar again.

The Oilers’ shoulders slumped. The Jets pushed harder and the Oilers fell back even further. The eventual Jets overtime winner was inevitable, as was the derision on Twitter as general manager Craig MacTavish became a meme.

#HereComeTheOilers pic.twitter.com/eEDoJBVBCI
— Steve Dangle Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) December 4, 2014

Now that the Oilers haven’t won since November 9, it’s hard to see anything different coming their way in the near future.

All the NHL Scores

Wild 2, Canadiens 1

Blackhawks 4, Blues 1

Jets 3, Oilers 2 (OT)

Ducks 5, Flyers 4

Three things we learned

1. Minnesota's power play is woefully bad. The only team worse on the man advantage this season is Buffalo, and not by much. The Wild's struggles continued in earnest on Wednesday against the Habs with an 0-for-5 showing. It didn't matter in the end, as the Wild still outshot the Canadiens 35-19 and controlled the pace of the game. But the Central Division is stacked, and Minnesota has to improve on their nine percent rate on the power play if they want to keep up.

2. Chicago is deadly in the third period. The Blackhawks and Blues battled to a virtual stalemate through two periods before Kris Versteeg and Patrick Kane led a three-goal outburst in the final frame. Chicago has now outscored opponents 29-12 in the third period this season and outshot them 323-218. It's become imperative to get out to early leads against the Blackhawks, and teams can't figure out how right now.

3. The Ducks might be showing signs of life. Riddled with injuries on the blue line and mumps in the locker room, the Ducks have stumbled through the early schedule. But winning a run-and-gun game against the Flyers isn't an easy task, and Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry got on the scoresheet again. Perhaps Anaheim is emerging from its funk.

Impact Moment

The Flyers have not had a great last two weeks, and their West Coast road trip got off to a bad start in San Jose. It was critical that they gain at least a point out of their contest in Anaheim on Wednesday. Wayne Simmonds delivered, scoring off his own rebound with 1.8 seconds left in the third to send the game to overtime.

(H/T @MyRegularFace)

Stat of the Night

There have been 6 losing streaks of 11 games or longer since the start of the 2009-10 season...the #Oilers own 3 of them
— Sportsnet Ticker (@SportsnetTicker) December 4, 2014