Oilers keep it rolling on the road in a shootout with the Devils

James Neal’s power play prowess was once again on display as he scored his league-leading fifth power play goal and seventh of the season in the Oilers 4-3 shootout win against the Devils in New Jersey.

Once again, the Oilers fell behind early. Kyle Palmieri blocked an Oscar Klefbom point shot, the puck bouncing off his shin pad creating a two-on-one the other way with former Oiler Taylor Hall. Palmieri opted to take the shot and went over the shoulder of Mikka Koskinen to put the Devils 1-0.

The Oilers responded a little more than three minutes later. Though neither of them picked up a point on the goal, Ethan Bear and Connor McDavid played a key role in the play.

The play started in the Oilers defensive end when Bear stripped Devils’ Miles Wood of the puck, poking it ahead to McDavid who started the rush, carrying the puck through the neutral zone. McDavid made a pass to Zack Kassian at the blue line, who dropped it for a trailing Darnell Nurse, he then hit Leon Draisaitl in stride and he tipped the puck past MacKenzie Blackwood for his second of the season, tying things up 1-1.

The Oilers had an opportunity to take the lead nearly halfway through the second period when a Darnell Nurse stretch pass found Markus Granlund behind everyone for a clear-cut breakaway. But Blackwood was up to the task, making the pad save and keeping the game tied.

The Devils regained the lead later in the period when last season’s KHL MVP Nikita Gusev scored his second NHL goal. A puck flipped through the neutral zone by Connor Carrick was knocked down by Jesper Bratt at the Oilers blue line. Showing patience, he turned away from his defender and set up a trailing Gusev who stepped into a one-timer on top of the right faceoff circle that beat Koskinen for the 2-1 lead.

The Oilers would again tie it up.

With time winding down in the period, Edmonton on the power play, Connor McDavid set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with room between the four Devils defenders in the slot, his shot appeared to beat a screened Blackwood cleanly, but after taking a closer look, it was James Neal tipping it from his usual spot on top of the crease giving him his league-leading seventh goal of the season, matching his total from last season. This year, however, he reached the mark in just four games, instead of 63.

The scoring trend continued in the third.

With less than five minutes remaining, P.K. Subban kept the Devils onside after a missed shot from the point, finding  Nico Hischier along the boards. Hischier then passed it to a trailing Taylor Hall who skated around Zack Kassian, drawing Bear to the other side of the ice, freeing Damon Severson to his left. Severson, after quickly settling the puck, then beat a sprawling Koskinen from a sharp angle for the 3-2 lead.

But the Oilers were not about to let their undefeated streak end. 

A tripping penalty to Devils forward Blake Coleman late in the third would prove to be costly. On the ensuing powerplay with a little more than a minute to play in regulation time, Blackwood was unable to squeeze a Klefbom one-timer from the blue line. McDavid snuck in, back door, and jammed the loose puck from between Blackwood’s pads and into the net, tying the game 3-3.

The best opportunity in overtime belonged to Taylor Hall. With two minutes to play Hall immediately called for a pass while jumping on the ice for a line change, and on the partial breakaway, he was denied by the right pad of Koskinen.

Neither team found the back of the net, sending the game to a shootout.

With both goalies turning aside each team’s first two attempts, Taylor Hall once again had a chance to be the hero against his old team, but Koskinen shut the five-hole, setting up Draisaitl with a chance to end the game.

With the game on his stick, Draisaitl slowly made his way in on Blackwood gliding towards the middle from the right side, and wristed one off the far side left post and in for the win, keeping the Oilers undefeated.

Edmonton has now won four straight games including two on the road. 

While Neal’s goal keeps him in the league lead, McDavid’s two-point night keeps him tied in the lead for points (10) and assists (7), now with Patrick Laine, after his four-point night in the Winnipeg Jets home-opening 5-2 win against the Minnesota Wild.

The Oilers continue their eastern road swing with a game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.