HC Kris Knoblauch makes his feelings known about Edmonton Oilers' 3rd period defensive blunders in OT loss to Maple Leafs

By ARJUN B

Modified Nov 17, 2024 06:01 GMT

Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch expressed frustration over his team's third-period defensive lapses in Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Oilers held a 2-1 lead entering the final frame before allowing two goals just 59 seconds apart to relinquish the advantage.

"Overall I thought the first 10 minutes of that we were doing really well defending it. And you know, a couple mistakes. One, you know, weren't even scoring chances that they generated. It was mistakes on our behalf," Knoblauch said.

Kris Knoblauch cited a loose puck that was chased down and an errant pass that bounced off a defender's skate and stayed in the slot as the key errors leading to Toronto's quick strikes.

"So unfortunately, anytime you're with the lead and you give it up, you're (like), 'what happened?'. But you know, those two plays aren't...just unfortunate," Knoblauch lamented.

The Maple Leafs' two rapid goals shifted momentum after Edmonton had controlled much of the first two periods. Leon Draisaitl scored late in the third to force overtime, and Mitch Marner netted the winner just 40 seconds into the extra session to hand the Oilers a defeat.

Despite the loss, Connor McDavid and Adam Henrique provided goals for Edmonton. Bobby McMann (two goals) and Matthew Knies scored the other goals for the Maple Leafs.

Kris Knoblauch reacts to Ryan Reaves' hit on Darnell Nurse

In the second period, Leafs forward Ryan Reaves delivered a dangerous hit to the head of Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. The collision left Nurse bloodied and unable to return to the game after struggling to get back on his feet.

Reaves was assessed a match penalty for the illegal check, while the Oilers later confirmed Nurse had suffered an upper-body injury.

After the game, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch weighed in on the incident and shared his thoughts.

"It was contact to the head and that’s all ... I’m worried about our player. Obviously contact to the head, you don’t want to do that," he said tersely, declining to elaborate on the severity of the head contact.

Kris Knoblauch also stressed Nurse’s importance on both ends of the ice.

"Darnell is very important. penalty kill, power play, five-on-five minutes, he's a very important piece of our team, especially how well he had been playing this last week or two." Knoblauch said,

"Fortunately we had seven defencemen dressed tonight, and those guys really stepped up... (Troy) Stecher and (Travis) Dermott, (Ty) Emberson, those guys stepped up with his absence, but you can't replace Darnell."

There was no definitive update provided on the extent of the injury, with the team indicating they need to continue monitoring Nurse's progress over the coming days.