The San Jose Sharks overcame two early goals against to knock off the Edmonton Oilers 6-3 Thursday night at Rogers Place.
The Oilers grabbed a 2-0 lead before the game was six minutes old.
Edmonton forward Sam Gagner smashed in a rebound from the slot for his fourth goal of the season.
Just 1:16 later, Oilers captain Connor McDavid steamed in from the left side and flicked his 30th goal of the year past Sharks goaltender Aaron Dell.
“Even though we were up two, I still thought they were taking the play to us,” McDavid said after the game. “We found a way to get a couple, which was good, but they took the game to us all night.”
“This was a game we had to show up and play,” Oilers coach Dave Tippett said.
“It’s going to get hard to win. And if you’re not willing to pay the price to win, willing to block shots or box out men or compete on a one-on-one battle for a loose puck in front of your net — if you’re going to lose the majority of those, you’re not going to win many games. That’s on us.”
LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett
The Sharks tied it with a pair of deflection goals: one from Timo Meier and the other courtesy Evander Kane on the power play.
“We’ve got to have more emotion in our game,” Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse said. “We’ve got to find a way to motivate each other. There’s no excuse for that.
“We’re in a tight race and you come play a team in your division, and they’re a good veteran team who knows they’re never out of it, we’ve got to find a way to play hard.”
The Sharks added two more in the second period. Maxim Letunov cashed in a rebound for his first career goal. Stefan Noesen flipped in a puck from the side of the net to make it 4-2.
“We have to be better.”
LISTEN BELOW: Connor McDavid
Meier beat Edmonton netminder Mikko Koskinen over the glove 5:05 into the third, but Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear got it right back for Edmonton 1:28 later.
“We’re all working hard, that’s for sure,” Bear said.
“We’ve got to find a way to be mature and keep going forward. That’s really it. And support each other — work back for each other so we don’t have to make those hard plays.”
LISTEN BELOW: Ethan Bear
Kevin Labanc added one more for the Sharks.
The Oilers’ Tyler Benson made his NHL debut and played 9:25. His best scoring chance came in the final seconds when he had a shot from the side of the net blocked.
The Sharks have won in their last five visits to Edmonton.
The Oilers (28-20-6) will host Nashville on Saturday.
–With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Escott and Kyle Morris
Watch below: Some Global News videos about the Edmonton Oilers.
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