Oilers unable to capitalize on close calls in tight loss to Islanders

EDMONTON — Leon Draisaitl is in his office with 35 seconds left in the game. Connor McDavid wheels down the left side, then swings a bullet pass right into Draisaitl’s wheelhouse.

We all know what comes next, right?

“Goal,” said defenceman Jake Walman. “It’s 99 out of 100 (times) he’s making that. You keep giving him the puck in that same spot, he’s got the next one.”

“It probably would have went and if Leon had his skates behind the goal line, like where he usually is,” added Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “The angle was too good.”

That play — McDavid, to Draisaitl, to the far goal post behind New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin — stands as a metaphor for the entire night in a 1-0 Islanders win.

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Despite the fact that Connor Ingram was stellar in the Oilers’ net, Edmonton got goalied by Sorokin in a game where they outshot the Islanders 36-18. The shots in the final 40 minutes were 24-6 for the Oilers. It was 11-2 in Period 3.

But a loss is a loss, and Anthony Duclair’s power-play goal with 6:18 to play lit the only lamp of the night. Somehow.

“We had our looks, we had good looks — over 30 shots,” said Walman. “For the most part of that game, we got to our game. But sometimes that happens — you run into a hot goalie. It was a goaltending game tonight.”

Evan Bouchard ripped one off the post that even the referee thought went in. Zach Hyman slipped one through Sorokin’s legs that somehow went out the other side and missed the net.

Look — you can be a hard-ass and say that Draisaitl makes $14 million a season to bury the puck on such a glorious chance. But even the greats hit a post or two along the way, and you won’t catch us leaning on an annual 50-goal man for flubbing one.

It’s become so automatic over the years with Draisaitl that when McDavid delivered that pass across the slot, an entire house had one thought in its mind:

“The arena thought it was going in, because they’ve seen that play so often,” Knoblauch said. “Our bench did too.”

“I didn’t see nothing,” Sorokin told the media post-game. “I just heard the post sound and I thought it was a goal. It started to get loud in the rink and then I saw the puck in the corner and I thought, ‘Thank God.’”

It’s funny. Early in the season, when Oilers fans were fantasizing about a goalie upgrade, the name Sorokin would arise, and it was agreed upon that the price would be Skinner-plus-plus.

Of course, reasonable heads prevailed. “Why would the Islanders trade a franchise goalie?” we asked each other.

Now we know why they’d never entertain any trade talk surrounding this 30-year-old, who they have signed for the next six seasons after this one at a tidy AAV of $8.25 million. He’s the best goalie in the league right now, playing behind a team that ranks in the high 20’s in quality chances allowed every night.

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“There are not enough words to describe how good that guy is day in and day out for us,” said Islander Matt Barzal. “His commitment to being a pro is his entire life. On the road, you find him in the gym when we get into a new city or on off-days, he’s stretching and working out…

“That’s just who he is. He’s just ready to play all the time and is really the best in the world.”

Sorokin has a .916 save percentage, a huge reason why the Isles rank third in goals allowed per game (2.72). Meanwhile, lost in the shuffle was another quality start by Ingram, who quietly has fashioned a 2.49 goals-against average and a save percentage of .907 — exactly the number he had in two seasons behind the woeful Arizona Coyotes.

You never know, but this acquisition — Ingram for the price of $1.15 million and nothing more — could be the savvy add of the year for Oilers GM Stan Bowman.

Now, with Tristan Jarry healthy, the Oilers are carrying three netminders, with Calvin Pickard clearly the No. 3 in this equation.

Does a crowded crease have Ingram thinking any differently?

“I’m living in the JW (Marriott),” shrugged Ingram, who’s just happy to be back in the NHL. “All I think about is having a good practice tomorrow. None of that is in my control and it’s just wasted energy if you think about it.”

The loss writes an epitaph on McDavid’s career-high 20-game points streak. He had 19 goals and 46 points along the way.