Oilers rout Sabres with five goals in the third

In Edmonton, the Oilers turned a tight, 3-3 tie with the visiting Buffalo Sabres into an 8-3 rout with five unanswered goals in the third period.Zach Hyman hit for a double in the win, including his 48th goal of the year.

“Oh, yeah. Obviously, it would be special, but I’m not focused on it,” Hyman said. “Really, I just want to win there. I don’t think I’ve won there since I’ve been here. So, it would be great to go in there and win.”

Stuart Skinner made 26 saves in the win.

The Oilers moved to 42-21-4.

The two teams entered the third period tied, 3-3, before the Oilers wrested control of the game.

Darnell Nurse started the outburst at 4:38 of the third, scoring off a shot from the point for a 4-3 lead to Edmonton.

Mattias Ekholm scored his second of the match at at 5:40 to give the Oilers a 5-3 advantage. .

“We all know it’s about to get to crunch time and we can’t lean into a game and just sit there and wait,” Ekholm said. “I didn’t like the first, we all realized that. I think we have a pretty mature team in here and everybody understands when we play good and bad, but sometimes it needs to be said. Whatever was said, I felt helped.”

Hyman collected his double 15:18 for a 6-3 lead.

Ryan McLeod ballooned the advantage to 7-3 at 16:58, scoring off a shot form the right circle.

“We’re finding ways to get wins. I would still like to see a little bit more control of games,” the Oilers’ Connor McDavid said. “I still think we are finding our game. It is nice that we are winning and producing wins, but I still think there is more there to be had, more urgency, which is a good thing.

“It’s that time of year when we need to ramp up and get ready to go. We are still playing for positioning and all that. There is still lots to be playing for.”

Connor Brown added salt to the wound with a goal with 10 seconds left on the game clock for the 8-3 final count on the scoreboard.

The Sabres dropped to 33-33-5 off their third loss in four matches.

“I don’t really know what to say about that one, it’s obviously a frustrating loss,” the Sabres’ Tage Thompson said. “I thought our first and second (periods) were good hockey, you go into the third [in] a tie game, chance to win an important hockey game and they get a couple goals and we’re chasing from behind.

“They get another one and then it feels out of reach, now it’s a lot of frustration I think we let creep into our game there at the end.”

Buffalo started the game well enough. J.J. Peterka staked the Sabres to a 1-0 lead at 1:38 of the opening stanza.

Victor Olofsson pushed the Sabres lead to 2-0 at 16:34 of the first. .

The Oilers replied with a marker form Leon Draisaitl at 18:55, scoring off the power play for a 2-1 deficit for the Oilers headed to the middle frame.

Ekholm potted his first of the game at 4:26 of the middle frame for a 2-2 tie.

Peterka hit for his of two on the night at 16:56 for a 3-2 lead to the Sabres. .

“I don’t think it’s frustration, I think I was still trying to score the whole time and obviously it kind of had to open up at some point,” Peterka said. “And they took advantage of almost every chance that we gave them.”