Edmonton Oilers down Canucks for fourth-straight win

The Edmonton Oilers won their fourth game in a row, holding off the Vancouver Canucks for a 3-2 win Thursday night at Rogers Place.

The Oilers last won four in a row in December.

The Oilers put the pressure on early and opened the scoring at 5:21 when Sam Gagner set up Alex Chiasson for his 19th goal of the season. It was Gagner’s 300th point with the Oilers.

“We still feel there’s a lot in our control right now — we play some teams ahead of us — but at the same time you just need to take each game as its own game and just try to get wins,” Gagner said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We still feel there's a lot in our control right now — we play some teams ahead of us — but at the same time you just need to take each game as its own game and just try to get wins," Gagner said.

Later in the period, Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl dropped the puck for a streaking Connor McDavid, who centred it to Zack Kassian.

His redirection eluded Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko, giving Kassian goals in four straight games.

“I just went hard to the net and Connor gives me a tap-in, basically. I just had to put in in the five-hole,” Kassian said. “You can’t really read too much into the goals but I think as a team, for the most part, and even as a line we played well tonight.”

“Going down 3-0 is obviously not ideal but at that point I just wanted to give the guys a chance to claw their way back into it,” Demko said.

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The Canucks ramped it up in the final four minutes of the first and wound up with 18 shots in the period, but all were turned away by Oilers netminder Mikko Koskinen.

“I didn’t mind our game. I didn’t like our start. I didn’t think we had our feet going,” Canucks head coach Travis Green said.

“It took us a little while to get skating and in an emotional game last night (against Toronto) I was a little worried about our start today, and rightfully so. We weren’t quite sharp and I thought we found our game and made a late push and it wasn’t good enough.”

Early in the third, Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tapped home a pass from McDavid to put the Oilers ahead 3-0. It was a career-high 57th point of the season for Nugent-Hopkins.

With 1:30 left in the second, Koskinen mishandled a long shot from Canucks forward Brock Boeser, allowing Jay Beagle to tap the puck over the goal line and get the Canucks back in the game.

Vancouver defenceman Alex Edler threaded a shot behind Koskinen to pull the Canucks within a goal with 12:57 left. The play survived a challenge for goaltender interference.

“I didn’t think I touched him. From the video I did get a little bit of his glove but he was outside of his crease and I wasn’t in his crease,” Canucks forward Bo Horvat said. “We had one go against us, on the exact same play and it was called a goal so there was no doubt in my mind that was going to be a good goal.” 

Vancouver went on a late power play when Draisaitl was nabbed for hooking, but the man-advantage was negated after 58 seconds when the Canucks were called for too many men.

“They never seem to quit,” McDavid said. “They find ways to get a little bounce here and there and all of a sudden they’re back in the game. They’re a dangerous team that way.”

Koskinen made 35 saves for the win.

The Oilers (30-30-7) will host Toronto on Saturday.

Watch below: Some videos from Global News’ coverage of the Edmonton Oilers’ 2018-19 season.

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• News faces on Oilers bench as Edmonton hosts Arizona Coyotes
• Edmonton Oilers hold autograph session at West Edmonton Mall
• Edmonton Oilers hold autograph session at West Edmonton Mall Monday
• Hockey is for Everyone event at the Edmonton Oilers game
• Hitchcock impressed with Oilers practice
• Klefbom returns to Oilers lineup after injury
• Oilers’ Ken Hitchcock explains connection with legendary hockey coach Clare Drake
• Twitter reacts to Nicholson’s ‘something in water’ comment
• Shaye Ganam and Bryan Hall debate how to fix the Edmonton Oilers
• Edmonton Oilers fans wonder what’s next for the team after Chiarelli fired
• Timeline: Peter Chiarelli’s time with the Edmonton Oilers
• Edmonton Oilers fans on GM Peter Chiarelli being fired: ‘It was about time’
• Edmonton Oilers part ways with general manager Peter Chiarelli
• Ken Hitchcock will be Edmonton Oilers head coach until end of season
• ‘Our best fans in the league are frustrated right now,’ Nicholson says
• Nicholson says ‘something in water’ in Edmonton
• Edmonton Oilers looking for GM who can assess talent
• ‘He was disappointed,’ Nicholson says of Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli being let go

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