NEW YORK – The Edmonton Oilers got back on the winning track with the type of gritty play that had helped them get off to a fast start this season;
Mark Letestu scored the only goal in the shootout to lift Edmonton to a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday night.
Letestu beat Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak to the glove side to snap the Oilers’ three-game skid (0-2-1) after starting the season with seven wins in eight games.
Patrick Maroon, Leon Draisaitl, and Milan Lucic scored in regulation for the Oilers, and Cam Talbot made 30 saves as Edmonton beat the Islanders on the road for the first time since December 1999. The Oilers fell behind 2-0 early, then trailed 3-2 in the second.
“It was a gutsy win,” Letestu said. “It showed the guys are willing to stick with it, no matter the circumstances. We played a smart game.”
Nick Leddy, Shane Prince and Casey Cizikas scored for New York, and Halak finished with 20 saves. The Islanders (4-6-2) have lost three straight, including the last two in shootouts.
“The bounces aren’t going our way,” Halak said.
Halak denied Jordan Eberle point-blank early in overtime before Talbot made a similar sprawling save at the other end.
Cizikas put the Islanders ahead 3-2 with 8:42 left in the second, picking a rebound in front of Talbot and snapping the puck into the net for his second goal of the season.
Lucic tied it with a power-play goal with 3:10 left in the period with his fifth of the season.
The Islanders had more chances in the scoreless third, outshooting the Oilers 11-7 and holding a 29-18 overall edge into overtime.
“We competed and played hard,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “The puck luck is just not going our way.”
The Islanders had a power-play chance in the third when Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse was sent off for high-sticking at 9:43. But the Islanders didn’t muster much of an attack as murmuring boos were heard at Barclays Center.
Talbot had to work harder in the period. He stopped Prince twice from in close and denied Cal Clutterbuck point-blank two times as well.
“Tonight didn’t start as we wanted to but we did a great job battling back,” Talbot said. “Both sides had a lot of great chances. Halak made some great saves, too.”
Halak, who has been splitting time with backup Thomas Greiss over the past two weeks and has reportedly asked for a trade to alleviate a three-goalie logjam on the roster, was shaky as the Oilers scored three times ib 11 shots over the first 40 minutes.
The Islanders began the night with a new-look line for the opening faceoff with captain John Tavares centring Clutterbuck and Josh Bailey and the trio paid immediate dividends.
Leddy took a cross-ice pass from Clutterbuck and rifled the puck past Talbot for his second goal of the season just 13 seconds in.
Prince made it 2-0 at 5:49, picking up a loose puck and snapping it past Talbot for his third goal of the season. Dennis Seidenberg also assisted to extend his points streak to four games. The veteran defenceman has four goals and four assists on the season.
The Islanders clearly had more jump early against the speedy Oilers, who led by their teenage phenom Connor McDavid and were coming off a 5-3 loss against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. New York held a 7-1 shots on goal advantage at the seven-minute mark.
The Islanders needed the quick start, coming off two frustrating home losses, a 3-2 shootout defeat to Philadelphia on Thursday and a 6-1 drubbing by Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
However, the quick-skating Oilers answered at 8:22 of the first when Maroon deflected a soft shot from the right point by rookie defenceman Matthew Benning past Halak for his fourth goal this season.
Draisaitl tied it with a power-play goal with 7:47 left in the period for his third.
“We weathered the storm,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said, recalling his team’s visit to Brooklyn last season when they lost 8-1. “It wasn’t pretty but we found a way.”
NOTES: The Islanders came in with a nine-game home winning streak against the Oilers. Edmonton’s last road victory over the Islanders was a 4-2 triumph at Nassau Coliseum on Dec. 14, 1999. … Islanders D Travis Hamonic didn’t return after sustaining an upper-body injury in the first period.
UP NEXT
Oilers: At Detroit on Sunday in the fourth game of a five-game trip.
Islanders: Host Vancouver on Monday night.