In Boston, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak scored in the first period to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
The Oilers may have been stunned, but they rallied with three straight goals in a 3-2 win over Boston.
“I don’t think we gave up a ton tonight; neither team,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “There wasn’t a lot of space out there. [It] felt like a playoff game, but you’ve got to fight for your ice out there, including goaltenders have to fight for their ice, and I thought [Skinner] made a couple big saves down the stretch and gave us a chance to win the game.”
Stuart Skinner made 26 saves in the Oilers win.
“Every single game, I’ve gotten scored on at least once this year,” Skinner said. “So, I think having that experience of getting scored on in the NHL — I mean, the fans go loud, especially here at [TD] Garden — and just being able to reset like how I always do, and I thought I did a good job doing that.”
Darnell Nurse scored at 15:11 of the third period to snap a 2-2 tie to send the Oilers to the win.
“We’ve got confidence in our group,” Nurse said. “I think we said it this morning that we can play with anyone in this league, but it’s one thing to say it. It’s [another] to go out there and do it, and we did tonight. I think, obviously, we had some huge saves, some big commitments to defense — only giving up two (goals) — and capitalizing on our opportunities.”
Edmonton improved to 36-22-8.
“I thought the Oilers were the better team,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “They were good; we weren’t good enough. I thought they outplayed us, outworked us and outcoached us. … After the first period, we said, ‘We’re lucky to be up 2-0.'”
The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak the Bruins were working on.
“I actually thought we had a good second [period],” Marchand said. “We kind of controlled the play in the second. They got a goal on a lucky play there, and then in the third we just didn’t play our game at all. The goals we got, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot, so [it’s] uncharacteristic of us, but you know, one we can learn from.”
None of the Oilers goals came from Connor McDavid of Leon Draisaitl.
Evan Bouchards cored midway through the second period to shave the Bruins lead to 2-1.
Boston dropped to 49-9-5.
“What I recognized is [the Oilers are] really big on [offensive] zone possession,” Pastrnak said. “They kind of want to tire you [out] in the [offensive] zone, and just skating around with the puck. It obviously [stinks] for [a] defensive team to be just, you know, running around, but at the same time, you can play it smart, and just kind of stay in the house and wait for them to come to you.”
Edmonton tied it up, 2-2, at 6:08 of the third on a marker from Ryan McLeod .
“You know what Boston is going to bring every single night, especially in their own building,” Skinner said. “So, being able to steal two points is huge, and you know what? They stole two points in our building too (a 3-2 Bruins win Feb. 27). So, a little bit of revenge there, but I think we still have another gear to take here.”
Jeremy Swayman made 19 saves in the Bruins loss.
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