In Montreal, Evander Kane scored in his first game with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, his strike gave them a 1-0 lead over the Canadiens.
“When you get on the ice, you kind of put everything else to bed, and hopefully that continues,” Kane said. “It was great to get back out there.”
The Oilers also two goals each from Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman.
“I think you were able to see how spread out the lines were today and how we were able to get contributions from all four lines,” Hyman said. “I think that when you’re able to roll four lines, it wears on teams and you’re able to be fresh. And it’s not fun to play against when you have a new set of guys who are just dangerous going out every shift. So [Kane] adds to that for sure.”
The Oilers have won four straight.
Stuart Skinner made 21 saves in the Edmonton win.
The Oilers moved to 22-16-2.
“It’s great for him to jump in and get one early,” Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett said. “He looks in decent shape. You can tell he’s rusty, he hadn’t played in a while (Dec. 18 with San Jose of the American Hockey League), so he’ll have to get up to speed a little bit. But it’s good to get him up and get him in the lineup and get him going.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a single marker for the Oilers.
The two teams traded outbursts in the middle frame after the Oilers had taken a 3-0 lead in the opening frame.
Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Habs in the second period.
“We don’t want any goalie going in net and having to make 50 saves a night,” Toffoli said. “We’re trying to figure those things out as players. They’ve been getting a lot of shots and doing a good job. We have to find a way to stop letting up Grade-A opportunities. And I think they’ve been doing a good job of making big saves at the right time of games, and the games that we’re in, they’re keeping us in it.”
Hyman and Draisaitl scored after Kane in the opening stanza.
“You’ve got to find that momentum and keep going, and I think we’re struggling with that and then teams are pouncing on it,” the Canadiens’ Jake Evans said.
Derek Ryan added an insult goal with 24 seconds left in the third period for the 7-2 final.
Sam Montembeault got the start for the Canadiens and yielded six goals, before getting the hook in the second intermission.
Cayden Primeau made seven saves in a mop up role in the third period.
“All in all, a pretty good team effort and good to get the first one on a road trip,” Tippett said.
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