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Tag: Leon Draisaitl

  • Kraken sink struggling Oilers 5-2 with offensive outburst

    Kraken sink struggling Oilers 5-2 with offensive outburst

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    EDMONTON, Alberta — Jaden Schwartz had a goal and two assists as the Seattle Kraken exploded for four consecutive goals in the second period to come away with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

    “It was nice. I thought the way we played it was good to get rewarded,” said Kraken defender Adam Larsson. “There was a lot of emphasis on what happened last game and that made us even more hungry today. From top to bottom every guy played a solid game.”

    Matty Beniers, Yanni Gourde, Jared McCann and Alex Wennberg also scored for the Kraken (20-12-4) who have won two in a row. Martin Jones made 30 saves in the Seattle net.

    “In the second period, we got that one goal and it gave us some wings offensively and we were able to make more plays offensively, and I think we kept our game pretty simple,” Gourde said. “We weren’t trying too much, we weren’t trying to pass through guys, we were just putting it at the net and trying to work our way there and we got rewarded.”

    Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid responded with goals for the Oilers (20-17-2) who have lost two straight and five consecutive games on home ice.

    “You go up 2-0 and the odds that you win that game are statistically pretty high, right?” said Oilers forward Zach Hyman. “But, unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep the lead and we had 11 minutes where we fell asleep in the second period (and allowed four goals) and suddenly you are playing catch-up.”

    Edmonton’s lethal power play connected to start the scoring with 7:13 remaining in the opening period as a Leon Draisaitl shot attempt went through the crease to Nugent-Hopkins, who sniped home his 19th of the season from a tough angle past Jones.

    Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner kept it a 1-0 game by making a breakaway stop on Daniel Sprong a few minutes later.

    The Oilers went up by a pair just 48 seconds into the middle frame as McDavid got his league-leading 33rd goal of the season.

    The Kraken tied the game with a pair of goals just 31 seconds apart, however.

    Seattle got on the board 4:44 into the second period with a power-play goal as Beniers was able to bat a rebound out of mid-air and it trickled behind Skinner.

    Then with another Oiler penalty on the way, Beniers made a perfect long pass to Schwartz at the back door, and he directed home his first goal in 12 games.

    The Kraken kept coming against a shaken Oilers squad, as the Edmonton defense failed to clear a big rebound, allowing Gourde to score his first goal in nine outings through traffic with just over seven minutes to play in the second.

    Seattle scored its fourth straight goal in the period with 4:12 remaining. The goal chased Skinner from the net after allowing four goals on 20 shots, with Jack Campbell coming in to replace him.

    Edmonton thought it had clawed back to within a goal on an early third period power-play goal by Draisaitl, but it was erased on a coach’s challenge which determined Hyman was offside on the play.

    NOTES

    The teams previously met Friday, with Edmonton rolling to a relatively easy 7-2 victory, highlighted by a five-point performance from McDavid. … With eight of their next nine games on the road, the Kraken actually spend more time in Edmonton than in Seattle during that stretch as they will make a stop at home for one game following their seven-game road swing, only to return right back to Edmonton on Jan. 17. … Draisaitl, the league’s second leading scorer behind teammate McDavid, returned to the lineup after missing two games with an oblique strain.

    UP NEXT

    Kraken: At Toronto on Thursday night.

    Oilers: Host Islanders on Thursday night.

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    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Draisaitl, McDavid lead Oilers past slumping Blackhawks 5-4

    Draisaitl, McDavid lead Oilers past slumping Blackhawks 5-4

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    CHICAGO — Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist, helping the Edmonton Oilers top the slumping Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Wednesday night for their third straight win.

    Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mattias Janmark each had a goal and an assist as Edmonton improved to 2-0 in Chicago this season. Brett Kulak had two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 21 saves.

    “Just got to keep building and we can’t be satisfied with three wins in a row and the record we have,” Janmark said. “We’ve just got to keep moving forward here.”

    The Blackhawks lost their eighth consecutive game and dropped to 2-10-4 in their last 16 overall. Max Domi had two goals, and MacKenzie Entwistle and Boris Katchouk also scored.

    “It is good to see that we do fight back right to the end,” first-year Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “But we have to be more stingy defensively without taking away from our offense.”

    McDavid got Edmonton some breathing room when he skated past Chicago defenseman Jack Johnson at the blue line and beat Arvid Soderblom on the goaltender’s stick side, making it 3-1 with his team-best 18th goal 1:18 into the third period.

    After Janmark finished a 2-on-1 with Nugent-Hopkins midway through the third, Domi and Entwistle scored 19 seconds apart to get Chicago (6-12-4) back in the game.

    But Edmonton’s two biggest stars went right back to work. McDavid set up Draisaitl’s 15th goal on a one-timer with 4:39 left.

    Chicago made one last push, closing to 5-4 on Domi’s second power-play goal with 1:11 left. But the Blackhawks couldn’t come up with the tying score in the final moments.

    “It was a little scrambled in the end, but we won,” Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi said. “That’s the really important thing.”

    Edmonton (13-10-0), which plays again Thursday night at Minnesota, jumped in front with two goals in the second.

    Skating in his 500th NHL game, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse found Draisaitl at the side of the net for an easy tap-in goal 54 seconds into the period.

    A streaking Nugent-Hopkins made it 2-0 at 9:48 with his 10th goal, converting a nice feed by Puljujarvi from behind the net.

    Edmonton also had a goal overturned in the first because of goaltender interference on Zach Hyman, who scored after he pushed Chicago defenseman Seth Jones into Soderblom. Hyman sent a shot off the inside of the post in the opening period.

    Chicago got one back when Johnson’s long shot went off Katchouk and into the net 14:33 into the second. It was Katchouk’s first point in his 12th game of the season.

    WORTH NOTING

    Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi (hip) and forward Sam Lafferty (back) were scratched because of injuries. … Oilers forward Tyler Benson made his season debut. He had been sidelined by a knee injury.

    UP NEXT

    Oilers: At the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

    Blackhawks: At the New York Rangers on Saturday night.

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    Follow Jay Cohen at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

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    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Devils top Oilers, tie franchise mark with 13th straight win

    Devils top Oilers, tie franchise mark with 13th straight win

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    NEWARK, N.J. — The young New Jersey Devils are making a name for themselves — in the team’s record book.

    Nico Hischier had three assists and the no-name Devils beat the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers 5-2 Monday night to match a franchise mark with their 13th consecutive win.

    “I guess we’re up there with the history book,” Hischier said. “Nobody is going to take that from us now and it feels good. It proves that we’re a good team, that we can win hockey games, that we don’t have to hide anymore.”

    Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Damon Severson, Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich scored for the Devils, who haven’t lost since Oct. 24 against Washington. Vitek Vanecek made 27 saves for New Jersey.

    “It’s awesome winning,” said Bratt, who leads the team with 24 points. “So is everything around the rink and being with the guys and playing these important games. That means a lot, and winning is the best thing possible in hockey.”

    The Devils still have three quarters of the season to go, but they are well on the road to making the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

    “We’ve had a great run. We know that we’re kind of the hunted now,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “We know that we’re going to expect probably the best every team can bring because we’re getting recognition. So that part we have to deal with. But 19 games in you can’t say, ‘We sent a message to the league.’”

    Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers, beaten twice by New Jersey during its run. Stuart Skinner made 23 saves, but had the puck taken off his stick by Hischier early in the second period to set up the go-ahead goal by Mercer into a wide-open net.

    “Obviously a tough game. Tough loss,” Skinner said. “They’re obviously a great team. They’re obviously hot right now as well. They’ve got some great players that make some great plays and it was just tough to lose, especially two in a row to these guys. But all we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on.”

    Severson stretched the margin to 3-1 on a counterattack minutes later.

    Edmonton made a push early in the third. Nugent-Hopkins cut it to 3-2 at 4:52 and had a close-in chance to tie it, only to be stopped by Vanecek, who improved to 9-1.

    Tatar gave the Devils breathing room about a minute later, gloving down the rebound of Mercer’s shot and beating Skinner. Sharangovich added an insurance goal with 5:15 to go.

    Jack Hughes had two assists for the Devils.

    ROUGH NIGHT IN NET

    Not only did Skinner hand the Devils the go-ahead goal, backup netminder Jack Campbell also had a bad night.

    Sitting on the end of the bench late in the second period, Campbell was cut when he was hit in the face by a puck that seemed to be deflected by Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Campbell immediately left the bench and did not return for the third period.

    “I went and saw him after the second period, and he was laughing and smiling. So that’s the kind of guy he is,” Skinner said. “But no, he had a pretty bloody nose and obviously it’s hard to see that happen, especially to him. I think he’s fine.”

    UP NEXT

    Oilers: Continue their swing through the New York metropolitan area when they visit the Islanders on Wednesday. Edmonton finishes in New York City on Saturday against the Rangers.

    Devils: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

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    More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • McDavid scores in OT, Oilers beat Golden Knights 4-3

    McDavid scores in OT, Oilers beat Golden Knights 4-3

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    EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid scored 1:17 into overtime to give the slumping Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.

    McDavid danced around a defender and chipped a shot over Adin Hill for his NHL-leading 16th of the season.

    Warren Foegele, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman also scored to help the Oilers improve to 10-8-0. They had lost five of seven overall and three straight at home.

    Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had three assists and McDavid added another. Stuart Skinner stopped 31 shots.

    Mark Stone scored twice for the Golden Knights. Keegan Kolesar also connected and Hill made 19 saves. Vegas has lost three of four to drop to 14-4-1.

    UP NEXT

    Golden Knights: At Vancouver on Monday night to wrap up a two-game trip.

    Oilers: At New Jersey on Tuesday night to open a three-game trip to New York.

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    AP NHL: www.apnews.com/hub/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Connor McDavid opens with hat trick, Oilers beat Canucks 5-3

    Connor McDavid opens with hat trick, Oilers beat Canucks 5-3

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    EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid had three goals and an assist and the Edmonton Oilers overcame an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Wednesday night.

    Leon Draisaitl added a goal and two assists and Darnell Nurse also scored for the Oilers in the opener for both teams. Jack Campbell made 33 saves.

    “It wasn’t according to anyone’s script, for sure,” said Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft. “I don’t think we were sharp. I don’t think we were in sync early. We found a way to win the game, that’s a really good sign, but we can be better.”

    Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Andrei Kuzmenko — in his NHL debut — scored for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko stopped 20 shots.

    Pettersson and Miller scored in an early 51-second span and Kuzmenko made it 3-0 39 seconds into the second on a power play. He’s the first player in Canucks history to score a power-play goal in his debut.

    “That was pretty disappointing, I thought we came out pretty good in the first and special teams kind of cost us the game,” said Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. “The power play wasn’t good enough and we couldn’t keep the puck out of our net on the (penalty kill).”

    Edmonton got on the board 4:12 into the second when Draisaitl took a deflected pass at the side of the net and slammed it past Demko on a power play.

    The Oilers pulled within a goal with another power-play goal with 5:59 left in the second on a three-way passing play from Zach Hyman to Draisaitl and then to McDavid.

    “It was just not a good start for our group. It was the first game and maybe there was a little bit of jitters,” McDavid said. “It is not going to be perfect every night. You are not going to have the game you want every night and sometimes you get a win with your ‘B’ or ‘C’ game. It was certainly not our ‘A’ game to start, but we found a way to get our legs going and get ourselves back in it.”

    Edmonton pulled even with 41 seconds left in the period on a 2-on-1 short-handed break as Draisaitl fed it across to Nurse, who beat Demko with a one-timer.

    The Oilers took the lead with 4:59 left in the third period with McDavid orchestrating a give-and-go with Hyman before depositing his own rebound past Demko. It was McDavid’s 700th career point, making him the sixth-fastest player to hit the mark in 488 games.

    McDavid completed the hat trick with 25 seconds left when Evander Kane dropped it back to him for an empty-net power-play goal.

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    More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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