Leon Draisaitl scored twice and took sole possession of the NHL scoring lead as the Edmonton Oilers knocked off the St. Louis Blues 4-2 Friday night at Rogers Place.
LISTEN BELOW: Leon Draisaitl
Draisaitl has 79 points; two ahead of teammate Connor McDavid.
The Oilers took advantage of a Blues turnover 5:31 into the game. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins passed to Draisaitl, who blasted his 28th of the season past Jake Allen. Only 17 seconds later, Caleb Jones scored his first of the season when his long wrist shot squeaked through Allen. The Oilers outshot St. Lous 13-3 in the first.
“I thought we played really well in the first period,” Dave Tippett said.
“They probably didn’t like their game in the first period. We knew they were going to push back hard in the second period and they did.”
The Blues turned the tables and hemmed the Oilers in for most of the second period. David Perron scored the only goal of the period, swiping in a backhand while on his knees with his back to the net.
“These are games that you learn a lot about your team,” Tippett said. “They’re a good, deep team and I thought our guys met the challenge really well tonight.”
LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett
St. Louis kept coming early in the third and tied it on a goal by Robert Thomas. Draisaitl replied 2:01 later, taking a pass from Kailer Yamamoto and streaking in to make it 3-2 Oilers.
“It’s no secret that team knows how to win hockey games,” Draisaitl said. “For them to tie it up and for us to come back and win the game, that’s huge. That’s a big confidence boost, for sure.”
“He’s one of the best players in the league, that’s for sure,” Yamamoto said. “The stuff he does with the puck — not many people can do it and it’s pretty easy playing with him.”
Alex Chiasson took a tripping penalty with 3:00 left. The Blues pulled Allen, only to see Josh Archibald seal the game with a shorthanded empty netter.
“Right through our group, I give them credit for meeting the challenge against a real good team.”
Mikko Koskinen made 30 saves for the win.
“I felt good from the start and I think it went pretty well,” Koskinen said.
“I think this was my second start of the month, so that’s why I’m happy with how it went. Usually you feel a bit rusty but I didn’t have that feeling.”
LISTEN BELOW: Mikko Koskinen
“We need to play like that every game,” Yamamoto said. “When we’re playing like that, we’re a hard team to beat, so if we can keep that up, we’ll be a good team.”
Draisaitl has 18 points over the course of a 10-game point streak.
The Oilers, 27-18-6, will play in Calgary Saturday night. The game is on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 6:30 p.m. The game starts at 8 p.m.
Dave Tippett says James Neal is “real questionable” for that game as he deals with a lower-body injury.
–With files from 630 CHED’s Kyle Morris
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