Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning: did 2 shorthanded goals decide the special teams swing?

The Edmonton Oilers came in at 34-28 with 9 overtime losses and 2 points, and the Tampa Bay Lightning arrived at 43-21 with 4 overtime losses and 5 points as the Bolts left Rogers Place with a 5-2 result.

The Oilers and the Lightning each finished with 27 shots, and the game sheet showed Edmonton with 28 hits to Tampa Bay’s 11 hits at 10:00 PM EDT.

first period

The Edmonton Oilers opened the scoring with 1 goal in the first period, and Connor McDavid recorded 1 goal on 4 shots in the game.

The Lightning answered by keeping the first-period line at 0 goals while finishing the night with a 53 percent faceoff win rate on 49 draws.

The Oilers ended the night at 47 percent on faceoffs, and Evan Bouchard logged 1 assist while taking 3 shots.

second period

The Edmonton Oilers were held to 0 goals in the second period, and the team finished at 7 percent shooting on 27 shots.

The Lightning produced 3 goals in the second period, including a shorthanded stretch in which Tampa Bay totaled 2 shorthanded goals on 3 shorthanded shots.

The Oilers went 0-for-3 on the power play with 3 shots, and Tampa Bay went 1-for-3 on the power play with 3 shots.

The Oilers took 6 penalties for 18 penalty minutes, matching the Lightning at 6 penalties for 18 penalty minutes in a special-teams heavy recap.

third period

The Edmonton Oilers scored 1 goal in the third period, and Vasily Podkolzin was listed among the game’s 3 stars for Edmonton.

The Lightning scored 2 goals in the third period, and their empty-net goal pushed their total to 5 on 27 shots.

Connor Ingram finished with 22 saves on 26 shots against in goal for Edmonton, while Tampa Bay’s goaltender stopped 26 of 27 shots.

Edmonton Oilers post-match stats showed 18 giveaways and 2 takeaways, while Tampa Bay posted 19 giveaways and 5 takeaways.

The Edmonton Oilers full-time result included a minus-11 team plus-minus, and the Lightning finished at plus-8.

The Edmonton Oilers final whistle reaction centered on missed special-teams chances after Edmonton recorded 3 power plays and Tampa Bay struck twice while shorthanded.

For what went wrong for Edmonton Oilers, the ledger showed Tampa Bay getting 2 goals while down a skater and converting 1 of 3 power plays, with Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel both named stars for the Bolts.

The next Edmonton game will be broadcast on March 24, 2026 at 9:30 PM EDT, with the Edmonton Oilers visiting the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on ESPN+ and Hulu.

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