The Edmonton Oilers grabbed their first win of the season with a 6-1 rout of the Nashville Predators Tuesday night.
The Oilers are 10-0-2 in their last 12 games against the Predators.
Leon Draisaitl became the Oilers’ all-time leader in power-play goals when he slammed home a pass from Zach Hyman eight minutes into the game. It was Draisaitl’s 127th career power-play goal, moving him ahead of Ryan Smyth and Glenn Anderson.
The Oilers took over from there. Hyman tapped in his first of the season. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fired in a cross-crease feed from Warren Foegele. Then, Connor McDavid, despite losing his balance and spinning on his knees, found a loose puck and beat Juuse Saros on a partial breakaway. Saros was pulled after the first period, having allowed four goals on 11 shots.
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“(Draisaitl) is the modern version of the power forward. He’s versatile, can play either wing, plays in the middle, his power-play performance is quite special,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said after the game.
Tommy Novak put the Preds on the board with a power-play goal early in the second. However, Draisaitl struck again with the man advantage to make it 5-1 Edmonton. Foegele potted his first later in the session.
“We got better from Game 1 to Game 2 … got better from Game 2 to Game 3. We have some individuals at different stages; guys miss training camp, come back from injuries. So I don’t think we’re yet hitting on every cylinder,” Woodcroft said.
Jack Campbell had a strong night in net, making 42 saves.
“Opening night was obviously not fun for anybody. But I learned a lot from last year and looked at the game and there was a couple of little tweaks, thought it paid off where I just got a little more aggressive,” Campbell said.
“I don’t think it was a 6-1 game without (Campbell) — he played great,” Hyman said of his goaltender.
Draisaitl and Hyman both finished with four points.
The Oilers (1-2) visit Philadelphia on Thursday. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 4 p.m. The actual game starts at 5:30 p.m.
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