Jason Franson / Canadian Press via AP
Vegas Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill (33) makes the save on Edmonton Oilers’ Zach Hyman (18) during the second period in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday April 10, 2024.
Published Wednesday, April 10, 2024 | 9:01 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, April 10, 2024 | 10 p.m.
EDMONTON, Alberta — It wasn't the triumphant return to the ice Adin Hill was hoping for, as the Golden Knights fell 5-1 to Edmonton on Wednesday night.
The absences of Alex Pietrangelo, Mark Stone, Chandler Stephenson and Nicolas Roy were felt, as the Golden Knights couldn't keep up with the Oilers' high-powered offense.
Keegan Kolesar scored for the Golden Knights, who lost a third straight. Adin Hill finished with 20 saves.
"Right now, our game’s nowhere where we need to be, and even if we were to get in it might be a quick bounce for us out of there,” Kolesar said.
The frustration level is high for the defending Stanley Cup champs.
“We’ve got to take care of business, we’re not in the playoffs yet,” Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “We’ve got to start playing like we want to be in it and we need more than just a couple guys every night. We need everybody and right now we don’t have that.”
The Oilers started the scoring midway through the opening period. Cody Ceci hustled in from the point and sent a shot from a bad angle that hit the skate of Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez and deflected cleanly past Hill for his fourth goal of the season.
Ekholm continued his torrid pace of late with his 11th of the season coming 5:38 into the second period. He fired a shot from the right faceoff dot that Hill could only wave at. Ekholm leads all NHL defensemen in 5-on-5 points since the NHL All-Star break with 25.
Edmonton made it 3-0 at 8:06 of the second as Hill made a pad save on a shot by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but couldn’t stop Zach Hyman from depositing his team-leading 53rd of the season on the rebound.
Vegas continued to have trouble getting to Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who stopped Anthony Mantha on a breakaway with six minutes left in the second.
The Oilers went up 4-0 at 6:50 of the third on a two-man advantage. Nugent-Hopkins found Leon Draisaitl in his office for a one-timer and his 41st of the year.
The Golden Knights broke Skinner’s shutout bid a minute later as Noah Hanifin sent Kolesar in on a short-handed breakaway and he beat the goalie glove-side for his seventh.
Dylan Holloway, recalled from Bakersfield of the AHL as a result of Connor McDavid’s injury, made a positive impact midway through the third. Hill left the puck behind his net, but the Oilers' forward stole the puck before scoring his fourth of the season on a wraparound.
