The Edmonton Oilers bounced back from a beating the night before to dump Detroit 6-2 Wednesday night.
For the fourth straight game, the Oilers allowed the first goal. Tomas Tatar scored on the power play after the Oilers were penalized for too many men.
Darnell Nurse pulled the Oilers even exactly one minute later when his seeing-eye point shot beat Jimmy Howard short side.
Less than four minutes later, Leon Draisaitl found Patrick Maroon wide open in front. Maroon went to the backhand and beat Howard five-hole for his sixth of the season.
Niklas Kronwall made it 2-2 late in the first. His bad angle shot hit Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the back and beat Cam Talbot right inside the post
“We came out right away,” Jujhar Khaira said. “We’re most successful when everybody pitches in. It gives confidence to everybody on the team.”
The Oilers controlled the second period, getting three goals while outshooting the Wings 14-3. Khaira wristed home his second of the year at the 10:24 mark.
Mark Letestu, playing in his 500th NHL game, banged in a Mike Cammalleri rebound to make it 4-2. That goal ended the night for Howard, who was pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots.
The Oilers’ Drake Caggiula beat Petr Mrazek with 1:44 left in the period, converting a centring pass from Connor McDavid.
“It was a lot to prove tonight,” Mark Letestu said. “Everybody showed up tonight with the right mindset. It’s not relief, we’re going to win more hockey games.”
Jesse Puljujarvi ripped home a one-timer with 1:05 to go in the third to round out the scoring.
Cammalleri earned his first point since being acquired by the Oilers last week while Yohann Auvitu recorded two assists. Talbot made 20 saves for the win.
“We didn’t have to sit for three days with such a bad loss,” Auvitu said. “We did well. We had good response, we showed ourselves we’re capable of winning.”
On Tuesday, the Oilers suffered their worst loss of the season, falling 8-3 to St. Louis.
The Oilers (8-12-2) play the fourth game of their five-game road trip Friday in Buffalo.