In San Jose, Mike Smith made 28 saves in a 5-2 win for the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
“I thought there were a lot of really good parts to our game tonight, we got a lot of contributions up and down our forward line and [defensive] pairings,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “I thought we tried to play the game fast tonight, and that was noticeable.
“We got a really good performance out of Mike Smith, and the team effort was able to spread the minutes out tonight, so it was a good win for the team.”
Leon Draisaitl hit for a pair of goals in the Oilers win.
Edmonton improved to 36-24-5.
“Acquiring some people at the deadline makes us a deeper team, and I think when you’re making a playoff push, having people that can come into the lineup and play important minutes for our group is beneficial going into the most important games of the year,” Smith said. “Something that every team looks for is depth, and we acquired some guys that have been in the playoffs before and play important roles on teams, and obviously getting some guys back healthy just solidifies our lineup.”
Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson were the Sharks strikers
“I felt fine, felt good from the start. … Not the result we wanted, obviously,” Kahkonen said. “Good is not good enough in this league. I wish I could have made one or two more saves here, keep it a little closer, but overall, I felt fine. The guys have been great.”
San Jose dropped to 28-28-8.
Derick Brassard, Evander Kane, and Kailer Yamamoto added single markers for the Oilers.
Kaapo Kahkonen made 36 saves in the Sharks loss, it was his first start since being acquired from the Minnesota Wild.
“Just had an odd-man rush. The guys made a nice play, and ‘Tommy’ found me back door and I had all the time in the world to catch it and shoot it,” Karlsson said. “Those are always nice, and hopefully we can get a few more of those hockey goals.”
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