In Edmonton, the Oilers scored three times i the third period on Monday night to send the visiting New York Islanders to a 4-1 loss and win their first match under new head coach Kris Knoblauch.
“It felt incredible,” said Knoblauch, who was hired to replace Jay Woodcroft on Sunday. “… I had a game puck on my desk before the game started and I thought, ‘I have one but have two kids,’ and then we won, I got two, and so now we can make everyone happy. Maybe I won’t tell them which one is the game puck and which one is the souvenir puck.
“After the game, they did something really special. They had a video on the TV, they presented the puck and they had my wife on the TV just saying a few words, and that was very nice of them to do.”
Stuart Skinner made 32 saves in the win.
The Oilers moved to 4-9-1.
Leon Draisaitl scored in the first period for Edmonton.
Mathew Barzal was the lone striker for the Isles, his first period goal gave them a 1-0 lead.
The Islanders dropped to 5-6-3, off their fifth straight loss.
“They get a couple power-play goals and take the lead, but our lines were going,” the Islanders’ Anders Lee said. “A few lines had good looks, a lot of good opportunities, it’s just we’re not getting it to go in. That’s been killing us lately, and it’s just finding ways to get those penalties killed. But when you’re facing it and you’re feeling it and things are going the wrong way, it seems to pile on a little bit.
“So, we’ve got to stick together, take tomorrow, find a way and come back against Vancouver (on Wednesday). That’s all we can do. It’s frustrating. It’s not fun right now, but we’ve got to find some joy in this game and enjoy the challenge that we’re in right now and come out of it together.”
Draisaitl hit for his goal at 14:17 of the first to send the game to a scoreless meiddle frame tied, 1-1.
It was all special teams in the third period.\ when the Oilers hit for two power play goal and a shorthanded strike for the 4-1 final.
Zach Hyman scored off the power plat at 7:13 of the third for a 2-1 lead to Edmonton.
Connor McDavid extended the advantage to 3-1 at 9:33, also off the power play.
“Our power play alwahttps://youtu.be/ZlJebRP54No?si=Qig3qT31zSgbqfsZys says it is not about how many you get, it is about the ones you do get and the time you get them,” McDavid said. “Those two in a big moment for our group, it was good.”
Evander Kane added a shorthanded strike at 17:33, into an empty net, for the 4-1 final score.
“It’s obviously exciting for [Knoblauch]. First win in the NHL,” said McDavid, the Oilers captain. “It’s been a long road for him. It is well-deserved.
“It’s been a crazy couple days, a crazy 48 hours. It’s unfortunately something we have gone through before and we have responded the same way. It was everything that we have kind of been missing. Special teams were good and we got some third period offense. We have been missing that. I thought [Skinner] played really well and was there when we needed him.”
Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves in the loss.
“I don’t have an answer for that simply because we put pucks to the net. We have opportunities,” New York coach Lane Lambert said when asked about his team’s struggles to score this season after getting the opening goal. “We have to capitalize on those scoring chances. I mean, we had plenty of shots, we had plenty of traffic, we’ve got to find a way to put pucks in the net.”
The question is whether or not the Oilers are a refreshed team, or are they ginned up, briefly.
You must be logged in to post a comment.