Losing two players in one night is tough but when both play the same position, it borders on disasterous.
The Oilers found themselves in that situation Monday night against the Wild. Andrej Sekera and Yohann Auvitu both went down midway through the second period, leaving Edmonton with four defenseman for the latter half of the game.
"It was a little bit tough when we got hemmed in our zone with four d-men. We we unable to gain momentum off the power play." @27MilanLucic on #Oilers losing two blueliners tonight pic.twitter.com/z7ZKz2MmKp
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 3, 2018
Head coach Todd McLellan said after the game the loss of Sekera and Auvitu took a significant toll on the remaining defenseman--Darnell Nurse, Ethan Bear, Adam Larsson and Kris Russell.
"I think when we lost the two defenseman halfway through the second, the other four ran out of gas a little bit," McLellan said. "We spent more time on our end. You gotta give [Minnesota] credit, they smelled blood and they went after it, played a lot below our goal line. Any time we did get the puck, we were out of gas to jump into the play or to make anything happen."
"You get short-staffed and it just seems like you’re skating in mud. The passes aren’t real accurate, a lot of pucks bouncing around and they get energized. You’re fighting an uphill battle."
Sekera registered 12:47 of ice time, while Auvitu was limited to just 6:59. Consequently, Russell and Nurse each totalled over 26 minutes, with Bear and Larsson not far behind with more than 20.
In addition to the remaining four defenseman, Cam Talbot had his work cut out for him during the last half of the game. The Caledonia, Ont., native stopped 37 of 39 shots, a heavy load compared to the 22 shots that Minnesota's Devan Dubnyk faced.
McLellan said that the status of Sekera and Auvitu is still uncertain as they undergo further evaluation.
"They didn’t return and I haven’t heard much since. I know one needed X-Rays, the other one was having something else checked out so it’ll be a tomorrow thing," McLellan said.
The shutout marks Edmonton's fifth straight loss and the Oilers head home after going 0-for-3 on their road trip. The team sits above only Vancouver and Arizona in the Western Conference standings.
The Oilers return to Rogers Place for the final two games of the season, facing the Golden Knights Thursday and the Canucks on Saturday.