Matt Benning’s first goal of the season late in the third period stood up as the game-winner as the Edmonton Oilers edged the Dallas Stars 5-4 at Rogers Place on Thursday night.
“It was a slap shot – I just saw he (Bishop) came out to me and there was some room on the left side,” Benning said after the game. “I kept it on the ice. Good things happen when you shoot.”
The Oilers entered the game having scored a league low 15 goals through their first eight games. They had just one game with more than two goals prior to Thursday night’s five-goal outburst.
“It was a good sign for our team,” Benning said. “It’s a step in the right direction and it gives us some confidence in this locker room.”
An added bonus for the Oilers was that all five of their goals came at even strength.
“That’s a big hump that we got over for our team. I can talk about some of the negatives that we have to fix but I want to focus on us having the ability to outscore that team 5-1 even strength,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said after the game. “Obviously the negatives are the power play and penalty kill that we need to work on and repair, but that’s a good sign for us.”
The Oilers scored first for the just the third time this season when Connor McDavid took a pass from Ryan Strome and busted in past the Dallas defence. McDavid’s wrist shot knifed over Ben Bishop’s blocker and under the cross bar at 10:31 of the first.
The lead lasted just 63 seconds as Jamie Benn replied for Dallas. The Oilers grabbed the lead back at 19:35 of the first when Patrick Maroon’s centering pass banked in off Marc Methot’s skate. Maroon extended his point streak to four games.
Early in the second period, the Stars’ Alexander Radulov wired a one-timer past Cam Talbot on the power play. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers ahead again, tucking a loose puck behind Bishop with 6:14 left in the second. The Stars scored another power play goal with 3:41 left in the frame. Seconds after getting away with a high stick on Mark Letestu, Benn deposited a rebound behind Talbot.
The Stars power play struck yet again with 9:35 left in the third. Jason Spezza made a brilliant slap pass to Esa Lindell, who gave Dallas its first lead of the game. Nugent-Hopkins tied it with 7:44 left, snapping a shot past Bishop’s blocker. With 2:27 left, Benning’s point shot deflected off Radulov’s skate and eluded Bishop.
Leon Draisaitl finished with three assists.
The Oilers improve to 3-5-1 on the season. They’ll host Washington Saturday.
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