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EDMONTON — It was former Edmonton Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish who used to say, “Never critique a win.”

Of course, his Oilers missed the playoffs in five of the eight seasons MacTavish was at the helm, so those precious victories back in the Shawn Horcoff era were never to be sneezed at.

Today, to their credit, nobody in the Oilers dressing room is fooling themselves after a game the zebras wrapped up in a nice package and delivered dutifully to the Oilers. The only thing missing was the Amazon van.

Edmonton wasnâ€t very good on Thursday, outplayed by a fast, hungry and more organized Montreal Canadiens team. The Oilers inexplicably won 6-5, but as the panel argued over who should be the first star — referee Garrett Rank or arbitre Chris Schlenker — there was not a single Oiler who was fooled by what went down Thursday night at Rogers Place.

“Maybe the last 10 minutes of the game, it looked like we were a team,†offered head coach Kris Knoblauch. “But the first 50, it was disorganized, it was a lack of work. It didn’t look very good.

“We’ve got a lot of things to clean up,†he added. “We can only get better right now.â€

The Oilers are a hot mess again this fall, though, as Darnell Nurse points out, “Weâ€re sitting here at 4-3-1. There have been some seasons with a lot tougher trekking from Game 8.â€

As is our wont, letâ€s look at the positives.

Edmontonâ€s power play dug it out of a hole with two third-period goals — the second one coming when Josh Anderson was issued an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the wake of Leon Draisaitlâ€s fifth goal of the season.

The teams went right back to centre ice, dropped the puck, and 58 seconds later, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was tucking home the game-tying goal, an infuriating bit of business for the Habs.

“The referee had the choice to give two (minutes) or 10 minutes,†said Habs head coach Martin St. Louis. “He gave two, and that gave them the game. That’s the only reason they came back.

“Even when they were leading 3-1, they led, but they weren’t beating us.â€

St. Louis is dead right: the refs did overtly affect the outcome of this game by calling that minor on Anderson, and even when the Oilers scored three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead, there was no debate over which was the better team.

“Definitely, weâ€ve got to find it here,†said Nugent-Hopkins. “We play so much hockey coming up, thereâ€s no time to think about it. Itâ€s going to be a mentality, and we need to address it right away. Tonight, again, we were lackluster at the start. We found a way to get it done, but we know thereâ€s a lot more in this room, for sure.â€

We suppose itâ€s good news that a team playing miles below its expected level can be 4-3-1 and right in the thick of it in the Pacific. And as Nurse points out, this is actually a pretty decent start to the season, compared to the last couple of years.

Hey — at least no one is getting fired around here.

So the power play rode in on a white horse, something that weâ€ve not seen yet this season in these parts. And Edmonton scored six goals, in a season where they had yet to score more than three in any one game.

Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl both have five goals in eight games, and Connor McDavid — though he still refuses to shoot from Position A in the opponentâ€s slot — had three assists and was dangling in perhaps his most dangerous offensive effort this season.

The goaltending was excellent again, despite the fact that Calvin Pickard allowed five. He played the part of Grant Fuhr on this night, refusing to give up a sixth goal, and his team rewarded him with a late game-winner.

That heroic sixth goal was scored by Vasily Podkolzin, who whipped a turnaround backhander up into the top corner at 18:51 of the third period for his first of the season — and first goal since the passing of his father Alexander during training camp.

He thanked his teammates, the fans, and even the media for all the love and support he received, then laughed when someone suggested heâ€d worked on that goal over and over at practice.

“Iâ€ve never practised getting a pass from the blue line and backhand it in. Iâ€m not a (Evgeni) Malkin, or a guy like him,†Podkolzin said. “I saw how he scored against the Oilers 10 years ago on a spin-o-rama backhand. Iâ€m not like that. But that was a nice goal.â€

If allâ€s well that ends well, then the Oilers will sleep well after winning the final 10 minutes with three goals in front of a raucous crowd, evenly dispersed with Oilers blue-and-orange and the historic uniform of the Canadiens.

But make no mistake — this brand of hockey wonâ€t win on most nights.

And these refs arenâ€t coming on the road with you.

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The Los Angeles Kings suffered an embarrassing loss last night in their season opener against the Colorado Avalanche.

Every aspect played out last night on the ice, both offensively and especially on defense; Los Angeles looked very weak and out of it. So, coming into a back-to-back, the Kings were looking to avoid a 0-2 start desperately.

But, tonight, against another Western Conference contender in the Vegas Golden Knights, who introduced Mitch Marner and recently signed Jack Eichel to an 8-year extension, Los Angeles looked very good early on, until their power play defense and penalties let them down, ending in a high-scoring thriller with the Kings scrapping by a 6-5 win.

First Period Recap: Kings Come Out Strong

After the tripping call was made on Golden Knights center William Karlsson, who gave the Kings a power play opportunity.

The Kings responded with a 1-0 lead in Vegas, capitalizing on the power play opportunity. Andrei Kuzmenko buried the goal five minutes into the period off the assist from Anze Kopitar.

Vegas struggled to generate any goals against Anton Forsberg under the net, stopping every shot that came at him.

The Golden Knights’ best look came when Quinton Byfield was called for that unsportsmanlike conduct midway through the first period, but Los Angeles remained strong and didnâ€t let it get in their heads like last night.

Just a few minutes later, Quinton Byfield extended the lead with an unassisted goal, giving LA a 2-0 lead. Despite Vegas having control of the puck for most of the possession and winning faceoffs, Los Angeles stayed ready and strong on the ice.

The period ended with the Kings holding a 2-0 lead, energized by their early intensity on both defense and offense, which enabled them to take an early lead. However, Vegas remained a threat heading into the second period despite trailing.

Second Period: Golden Knights Dominate the Power Play

The Kings extended their lead to 3-1 early in the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights. Joel Armia put up his first goal as the newly acquired Los Angeles King from the middle of the ice against a solid amount of traffic in front of him.

Vegas managed to get back in the game in the second period, scoring three goals, including one by Pavel Dorofeyev on the power play and a fast break earlier in the period, to tie the game 3-3.

One glaring weakness in the Kings’ last two games was their power play defense and ability to execute fast break plays. The defense just doesnâ€t look strong in the closing moments when the game starts to get tight and close, reminiscent of the choke job against the Oilers in the last playoffs, when they blew a 2-0 series lead.

The Golden Knights were one of the best power plays ever, finishing second in the NHL, and in this game, they looked much better when they were in the power play, whipping the puck around the zone against what should be a Penalty kill.

This period wasnâ€t a good one for the Kings. From what looked like a commanding 3-1 lead and a different team committed to bouncing back from the ugly loss at home last night, they got outplayed entirely by one man on the other side of the ice in one period.

Third Period: Kings Battle Back

The third period was looking like it was going to be a big meltdown for the Kings, with another disappointing loss and back-to-back embarrassing games.

Early in the third period, the Golden Knights were dominating the puck and scoring off the Kings’ foolish penalties, but were getting outplayed in the power play, trailing 3-5 early in the period.

The story of the game was looking like the Kings were repeating the same old things from last season, blowing leads and failing to capitalize on close, competitive games that came down to the wire.

However, Los Angeles battled back thanks to Trevor Moore and Brandt Clarke, both of whom notched a goal to tie the game 5-5, sending it to overtime.

Clarke, Byfield, and Kuzmenko were especially impressive, showcasing their toughness and grit, executing in the big moments when called upon.

All three players were reliable for the Kings in the clutch and, in overtime, gave some big minutes on the ice to help scrape by the Golden Knights.

In overtime, LA squeaked by with a 6-5 win in a much-needed game that was theirs for the taking all game. It certainly wouldâ€ve been a horrible loss for the Kings, given the lead they had and how poorly their defense performed against the Golden Knights’ offense for the rest of the game.

But give credit to the Kings’ ability to respond to adversity and capitalize on key moments that will be crucial as they continue their push for a Stanley Cup.

Fans can look forward to more exciting matchups as the Kings aim to build their momentum against Winnipeg on Saturday, Oct 11 at 1:30 p.m. EST.

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The merchandise tent is always a decent place to start when assessing the commercial vulgarity associated with modern-day Ryder Cups. At Bethpage, they are flogging 24-carat gold coins – 100 were available on Tuesday morning, presumably still are now – with Keegan Bradley’s signature attached. The price? $7,500 (£5,500). There must be an assumption Ryder Cup fans leave their senses at the gates.

Money. The one subject the American Ryder Cup team would rather is not discussed this week and the theme Europe are more than happy to promote. As soon as it was confirmed the United States would be paid $500,000 a head to play at Bethpage – $300,000 must be given to charity, the rest is a stipend – half of Luke Donald’s team talk was written. Europe play for their cause, their tour, their big picture. The US? Now quite easily portrayed as over obsessed with dollar signs. Twelve players, $2.4m, zero caveats.

Last week, the Guardian contacted the representatives of all dozen US players to ascertain whether the “extra†$200,000 would also be donated to a charitable cause. Only one saw fit to reply, Patrick Cantlay’s representative explaining his client’s desire to assist “educational development for children of military veterans and first respondersâ€. Cantlay spoke directly on the same theme on Tuesday morning. It is curious given the obvious optics of this situation that agents have no apparent desire to publicly manage the subject.

Bradley has confirmed all of his $500,000 will go to charity. Xander Schauffele plans the same. So, too, does Scottie Scheffler albeit the world No 1 was irritated to be asked about his approach here. “I don’t know if we’ve met before,†said Scheffler to his questioner in what is now a regular, passive-aggressive tone. “But my wife and I, we like to do a lot of stuff in our local community and I’ve never been one to announce what we do. I don’t like to give charitable dollars for some kind of recognition.

“We have something planned for the money that we’ll be receiving. I think it’s a really cool thing that the PGA of America has empowered us to do. I have a deep passion for the city of Dallas, I have a deep passion for the organisations that we support at home and I’m excited to be able to take this money and be able to do some good in our local community.â€

Team captain Luke Donald has proudly pointed out that his Team Europe players will be donating their payments to charity. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Beyond this small contingent of players, it is totally unclear where the funds will go. The weird lack of focus from the American media means it would be perfectly easy for golfers to spend their $200,000 on fast cars or living room furniture. Stranger still is that $200,000 represents chump change to the world’s leading golfers.

Had the overriding idea been to increase Ryder Cup charitable contributions, or even for players to choose specific causes, there was nothing to stop $500,000 per player being designated accordingly. Instead, there is ambiguity and the chance for Europe to go one up in the eyes of a watching public.

The European team, it must be recognised, are no paupers. If he has not done already, Donald will soon make hundreds of thousands from speeches at leadership seminars. Golfers are typically given bonuses from their sponsors for Ryder Cup participation. The sweaters Team Europe will wear at Bethpage retail for about £2,000.

Donald, though, understandably plays on the sense of moral high ground. He had given the European team the option of receiving payment, one that was universally rejected. “I was very proud of the guys,†said Europe’s captain. “The ideals of the Ryder Cup was set up back in the 1920s by Samuel Ryder and I think he would have been proud too.â€

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Bradley portrays the financial issue as one aimed at bringing the Ryder Cup into the 21st century. Nobody knows what sporting event he is using by way of comparison. It is safe to say the PGA of America’s officials did not decide one morning to bestow millions of dollars on players. Instead, the impetus came from the golfers themselves.

“I’m not concerned about what Europe does or what they think,†Bradley said. “I’m concerned about what my team is doing. I was tasked with a job the PGA of America asked me to do and this was what we decided. We copied a lot of what the Presidents Cup does.

“We did the best we could and I think a lot of good is going to come from this. I think the players are going to do a lot of good with this money and I think it’s great.â€

Bradley may well be right. What is undeniable, though, is the pursuit of payment has added a dynamic to the Ryder Cup that the US will regret if Europe prevail in New York.

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