Jesse Puljujarvi had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers came out of their bye week with a 5-2 home ice win over the Vancouver Canucks.
“It was a fun night, good win, and I think all of the team played good,” said Puljujarvi.
“He played a tremendous game for us,” added Oilers head coach Todd McLellan. “I thought he played strong both ways. He was physical along the boards and won a lot of his battles. He looked confident passing and shooting. He ended with three points but he probably could have had a few more.”
The Oilers opened the scoring on their first shot of the game 1:25 in. Patrick Maroon kept the puck in at the blue line and passed down low to Connor McDavid. Maroon went to the net and snapped in the return feed from McDavid.
“It was important to do that,” said McDavid on the quick start out of their bye week. “Starts were something we’ve struggled with at home so to be able to do that was good.”
Canucks leading scorer Brock Boeser broke in all alone halfway through the period, but Cam Talbot turned him away with a blocker save. Jujhar Khaira broke a nine-game goalless drought with 2:01 remaining in the frame. He was alone in front after taking a pass from Jesse Puljujarvi and beat Jacob Markstrom with a backhand.
The Canucks scored a power play goal early in the second period thanks to a tip by Daniel Sedin. Brandon Sutter tied it seven minutes later, converting a two-on-one with Sven Baertschi. With just over one minute left in the session, Jesse Puljujarvi whacked in a rebound to restore the Oilers lead.
Puljujarvi played set-up man on the Oilers fourth goal early in the third. He passed across to Leon Draisaitl on a two-on-one, and Draisaitl blasted a one-timer past Markstrom.
“We wanted to have a good game and I thought our chemistry was good tonight,” noted Draisaitl on his lines play. “We are all strong guys that like to hold onto the puck and I think we did a good job of that.”
Patrick Maroon added a late empty net goal.
The Oilers have won three in a row and improve to 9-2-0 against the Pacific Division. They’re 21-23-3 on the season.
The Oilers are also on the verge of welcoming Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman Paul Coffey back into the organization. Coffey was at the game on Saturday and McLellan confirmed after the game that Coffey will be joining the organization in a role that has yet to be officially announced.
“We will have an official announcement on Sunday but it’s not a very well-kept secret, Paul will be joining our organization,” explained McLellan. “Peter and I and the organization talked about bringing in a guy that can help not only us here but throughout the whole organization. The players in Bakersfield, as well as some of our junior prospects with skill development. In particular, the backend.”
The Oilers return to game action on Tuesday when they host the Buffalo Sabres.
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