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 After losing their first four games, the Oilers are now on a
three-game winning run after beating the Detroit Red Wings 3-1
Wednesday night.
Edmonton, which led 3-0 after two periods, prevailed without getting
a single point from its top line. The goals came from the second and
third lines, with a power-play marker from fourth-line center Mark
Letestu to boot.
With the win, the Oilers halted an eight-game losing streak against
Detroit, which dated back to Feb. 4, 2012.
The Oilers opened the scoring at 12:32 of the first period. With the
home team on the power play, Letestu, stationed in front of the Red
Wings' goal, redirected a nifty pass from right winger Nail Yakupov.
It was the 30-year-old veteran's first goal for Edmonton.
Letestu said that if the Oilers are to break their nine-season
playoff drought, they need more nights like this.
"I think that's the way the new NHL is," he said. "You look at the
teams winning Stanley Cups, they're four (lines) deep. They're
dangerous whenever anybody's on the ice. It could be the fourth
line, they're dangerous, they're a threat. And it's something we're
getting close to.
"My line, we like to be a little better than we were. It's nice to
chip in on the power play, but five-on-five, there's a ways to come
for the fourth line. I think we can be better."
In the second period, Edmonton center Connor McDavid, the first
overall pick in the 2015 draft, brought the capacity crowd at Rexall
Place to its feet with a highlight-reel effort.
After McDavid and left winger Benoit Pouliot broke out on a
two-on-one, Pouliot slid the puck past Red Wings defenseman Mike
Green, leaving it for McDavid. The 18-year-old held the puck and
waited for Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek to make the first move
before dragging the puck around Mrazek and tucking it in the open
side to make it 2-0.
"It's a good move, I think the goalie may have expected me to go
backhand because that's where your momentum is taking you," McDavid
said. "But whenever you can throw something a little different at
them, that's going to turn the odds in your favor."
Thirty seconds after the McDavid marker, center Teddy Purcell got
credit for a goal after a scramble in front.
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill lamented his team's second-period
drop-off.
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"I thought we did a lot of really good stuff in the second, and we
had two huge blowups, and you can't win with big blowups," he said.
"I thought they weren't necessarily systematic errors, they were
just a couple of errors on our end individually.
"But you can't give up breakaways, you can't give up two-on-ones,
you can't give up three-on-twos like that."
Detroit, playing the opener of a three-game Western Canadian road
trip, started off slowly, getting only five shots on Oilers goalie
Cam Talbot in the first period. However, right winger Gustav
Nyquist's shot nicked the crossbar after a nice cross-ice saucer
pass from left winger Henrik Zetterberg.
Talbot's bid for his first career Edmonton shutout was broken at
6:49 of the third period, when Red Wings left winger Tomas Tatar
beat him on a rebound for his first goal of the season.
Talbot finished with 28 saves. Mrazek stopped 25 shots for the Red
Wings (3-3-0).
NOTES: Red Wings rookie C Dylan Larkin and LW Henrik Zetterberg had
five-game point streaks snapped. ... Oilers RW Jordan Eberle has
been out since he sustained a shoulder injury in a Sept. 29
preseason game against Arizona. ... The Oilers placed LW Matt
Hendricks on injured reserve Monday and called up RW Andrew Miller
from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif. Miller had six
points in nine games with the Oilers last season. ... Edmonton D
Griffin Reinhart, who did not play, is day-to-day with an
undisclosed injury. ... The Oilers scratched D Brandon Davidson and
LW Luke Gazdic. The Red Wings scratched D Brendan Smith, C Joakim
Andersson and RW Tomas Jurco. ... Red Wings C Pavel Datsyuk (ankle)
and RW Johan Franzen (concussion-like symptoms) are on injured
reserve.
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