Edmonton 6, New Jersey 3
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, November 3, 2017
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta
Referees:
Frederic L'Ecuyer, Brad Meier
Linesmen:
Shane Heyer, Scott Cherrey
Attendance:
18347
By The Sports Xchange
EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Edmonton Oilers gave their fans a glimpse of just how potent this team can be if it doesn't have to depend on reigning MVP Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to carry the scoring load.
Despite the presence of McDavid and Draisaitl, each averaging more than a point per game, the Oilers entered Friday night's game as the NHL's lowest scoring team -- because of a lack of production from the second, third and fourth lines.
Well, in a 6-3 win over New Jersey on Friday night, the supporting cast stood up and was counted. Drake Caggiula scored his first goal of the season, Milan Lucic and Ryan Strome each got their second goals, and Oscar Klefbom got his first.
"One of the things we've talked about, and I know you guys (in the media) have talked about, is we got some secondary scoring," Lucic said. "Goals from guys who've been snakebitten. Hopefully, we've been able to create some swagger and confidence to keep it going."
The Oilers (4-7-1) handed the Devils (9-3-0) their first road loss of the season.
Oilers goalie Cam Talbot stopped 30 shots to post his 100th career NHL win.
Caggiula got the Oilers on the board at 5:40 of the first period. On the power play, he had a simple tap-in after a great cross-crease pass from McDavid.
Strome doubled the lead at 8:55, tipping a point shot from former Devils defenseman Adam Larsson.
The Devils got one back at the 15-minute mark. Miles Wood made a rush down the wing and forced Talbot to make a pad save. But the rebound sat temptingly for Taylor Hall, who stuck the puck in the net.
Hall, who was traded to the Devils from Edmonton before the 2016-17 season, was greeted by a chorus of boos from the Rogers Place faithful as he celebrated his goal.
Oilers fans had more reasons to be sour at 5:02 of the second. Devils rookie Jesper Bratt spun and unleashed a seeing-eye shot that banked off the post and in.
Klefbom restored the Oilers' lead just a minute later, with a bullet drive that went through Devils goalie Cory Schneider. Patrick Maroon got an assist, extending his point streak to seven games.
"Two (goals) were off shin pads and two were great passes from the best player in the world," Schneider said. "I'm disappointed with their third goal right after we had tied it up. I didn't feel awful, but I didn't play well enough to keep us in the game."
Lucic made it 4-2 with 1:04 left in the second, as Anton Slepyshev's pass banked off his leg and in.
"Getting that early power play goal was big for our team, it gets the confidence going, it got my confidence going, I felt a lot better after that," Caggiula said. "Then we got a lucky bounce on the second goal, which we also needed, and we got another lucky bounce on the Lucic goal. It was one of those games where the puck luck was starting to go our way and hopefully it'll continue to do that."
But while the supporting cast had a big night, the first line wasn't quiet. Draisaitl scored with 6:42 left in the third period, as McDavid picked up his third assist of the night.
"Tonight was the first night in a while that we had everyone going and all the lines playing well, and playing the right way," McDavid said. "We were rewarded."
Brian Gibbons tipped home a consolation goal for the Devils with 5:35 left. Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-netter.
Hall said the Devils can't get too down after the loss, but he recalled the team also got off to a hot start last season — and missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
"You have to be proud of our record to this point of the season and take confidence in that," he said. "But at the same time, we were 9-3-3 last year and we finished 27th. We have a lot to improve. If you look at our last few games, we have been outshot and outplayed a bit. We have to figure it out quickly."
NOTES: Devils LW Marcus Johansson did not play; he left Wednesday's game in Vancouver after falling heavily into the boards. ... The Devils scratched D Ben Lovejoy and RW Stefan Noesen. ... C Brian Boyle played in his second game with the Devils since being diagnosed with leukemia; he was honored in a ceremonial opening faceoff with Oilers C Connor McDavid. ... The Oilers scratched LW Jujhar Khaira, RW Kailer Yamamoto and D Yohann Auvitu. .... The Oilers entered the game with a 68.3 percent penalty-kill rate, but the Devils didn't get a man advantage all night.
Top Game Performances
New Jersey |
|
Edmonton |
Jesper Bratt 1 |
Points |
Connor McDavid 3 |
Jesper Bratt 1 |
Goals |
Drake Caggiula 1 |
Will Butcher 1 |
Assists |
Connor McDavid 3 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Drake Caggiula 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Cory Schneider .878 |
Save Percentage |
Cam Talbot .912 |
Cory Schneider 36 |
Saves |
Cam Talbot 31 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
New Jersey
|
34 |
3 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
7 |
22 |
Edmonton
|
42 |
6 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
5 |
44 |
Upcoming Games
-
Edmonton will play their next game at home against Detroit. The Oilers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .444 after a loss.
-
New Jersey will play their next game on the road against Calgary. The Devils have a W/L % of .700 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.