Stuart Skinner made 38 saves and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hit a milestone to help the Edmonton Oilers down the St. Louis Blues 3-1 Wednesday night.
“I continue to see (Skinner) grow,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said after the game. “He’s trying to stake a claim to play as many games as he can in what is his first true year in the NHL.
“He’s got the confidence of his teammates, and certainly the confidence of his coaching staff.”
The Oilers scored the only goal of the first. Warren Foegele swooped behind the net and sent the puck into the high slot. Darnell Nurse gathered it in and had his wrist shot deflected in by Jesse Puljujarvi.
The Blues applied more and more pressure as the second period wore on. Ryan O’Reilly finally scored on the power play with just 4.4. seconds left in the frame to make it 1-1. The Blues outshot the Oilers 20-6 in the period.
Skinner made a couple of big saves partway through the third. He shot out his right leg to make a toe save on Nathan Walker. With the Blues on the power play, he made a blocker save on Ivan Barbashev, who had a wide open chance after an Oilers turnover.
Later, Oilers captain Connor McDavid centred the puck to Nugent-Hopkins. His initial shot was disrupted, but he stayed with it and whapped the puck out of the air for his 200th career goal with 6:16 on the clock.
“It’s a credit to him and his longevity, and his importance to our organization,” Woodcroft said of Nugent-Hopkins.
The Blues kept applying pressure before Zach Hyman iced it with an empty-netter.
It was the Oilers’ first road game of the season. They will play in Chicago on Thursday. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 5 p.m. The actual game gets underway at 6:30 p.m.
–With files from James Dunn, 630 CHED