In Edmonton, the visiting New Jersey Devils held a 3-2 lead in the early minutes of the third period, then they yacked up four unanswered goals to the Oilers in a 6-3 loss on Saturday.
Tyson Barrie started the rally to tie the game, 3-3.
Evander Kane gave the Oilers the lead, 4-3, with his second goal of the game.
“We can score goals, we know that, it’s just about playing a certain way and having the right attitude and staying with that attitude no matter how bounces go in a game,” Kane said. “You look at the third period, we come out, we know what we need to do, but they get a couple of bounces and take the lead, but we stick to our game plan, get pucks to the net and turn up the heat a little bit, stay with it, and we were able to respond.”
Zach Hyman made it 5-3 for Edmonton, and Connor McDavid added a goal for the 6-3 final.
“I thought up until we took the lead, we were the better team in the game,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “We had better chances and we missed some really good opportunities. I just thought that (Kane) goal from the goal line, the bad-angle (goal) from Barrie, a terrible goal. That gave them some life. We were doing all the right things, and if we give up a shot from there 99 out of 100 times, you’re getting a save.”
Mikko Koskinen made 25 saves in the Oilers win.
Edmonton improved to 35-23-4.
Jesper Bratt scored twice for New Jersey, and Nico Hischier added a single marker in the loss.
“[Bratt] is a leader for us, 100 percent, the way he’s been playing this year, he’s always a great player and he’s really dangerous,” Hischier said. “Teams recognize that and try to match up with him a lot more, but he keeps finding ways to score goals. That’s what we need from him, but he’s also a great guy to be around. He wants to be here and he wants to have success with this team. He’s been here since my Day One, so it’s fun to see and play with him.”
Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
“It has been a big stretch for us, important games,” Draisaitl said. “We had some good teams in here. This was a really good stretch for us, but that being said we are focused on the next game. We have two hard opponents coming up here on a back-to-back (at the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday) and we have to make sure we are ready for that.”
Kane’s first goal gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead.
“He’s feeling it right now, I think there is a good chemistry with him and Connor,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He has found a niche by going to hard areas to score goals. He’s also someone who can score from distance, but he doesn’t resort to just playing on the outside or the periphery, he goes to the hard areas to score, and I think that’s a good example for our younger players.”
New Jersey dropped to 22-35-5.
Jon Gillies made 34 saves in the New Jersey loss.
“It was just little mistakes, and we took a penalty from one of those mistakes, and we knew they had a great power play and they scored on us,” Hischier said. “It’s frustrating, but if you look at the whole game, I think we did a couple of things pretty well. I wouldn’t say it’s a terrible game, but it’s just frustrating at the end coming out of here short.”
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