In Edmonton, the Oilers scored three goals in the third period on Wednesday night to break a 2-2 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins to grab a 5-2 win.
Connor McDavid had a goal and four points i the win.
“We kind of held on there for the first 40,” McDavid said. “Mikko did a great job as usual, and I thought our young D … did a good job of stepping in and tried to keep the game simple, keep the game in front of them, and we worked our way through the game. We capitalized on our chances and we got some timely saves.”
Mikko Koskinen made 32 saves in the Oilers win.
Edmonton improved to 16-5-0.
Jake Guentzel and Teddy Blueger were the Pittsburgh strikers.
“I thought we did a good job controlling territory (in first two periods). We were hanging on to pucks in the offensive zone,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We wanted to try and limit their game in the transition zone, and I think on every goal they scored, it was mental errors on our part that kind of fed their transition game. They had a couple of 2-on-1s, and they scored on every one of them. They’re an opportunistic group. They don’t need a lot of chances and they finished on the ones we gave them.”
The Penguins dropped to 10-8-5.
“We knew they were going to push in the third. It would have been nice to grab the lead (in the second), but we were still in a good spot and we were playing good going into the third,” the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby said. “We just make a few mistakes and it ends up in the back of the net. We had some good pressure, some good zone time for most of the night, and you give them any opening and they take advantage of it.”
Zach Hyman hit for a pair of goals in the first period for the Oilers.
Kailer Yamamoto started the third period scoring for the Oilers, his goal gave them a 3-2 lead.
“We were better in the third. We just turned the puck over far too much in the first couple (periods). We just couldn’t get any rhythm to our game whatsoever. We were just batting it around like it was a tennis ball,” Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett said. “Once we got to work, we still turned it over a few times, but we still worked to get it back in the third. We were opportunistic with some of the chances we had, we had some good chances and we capitalized on them.”
Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard pushed the lead to 4-2 with a goal.
McDavid scored into an empty net after looking for Hyman to get him the hat trick.
“Obviously I’m trying to get him that puck, I almost feel guilty putting it in the net” McDavid said. “But Rodrigues kind of just glued himself to [Hyman], and obviously you have to put it away as well.”
Tristan Jarry made 17 saves in the Pens loss.
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