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 Center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins snapped a tie with 3:25 remaining, and
the Oilers upset the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 at Rexall Place.
Edmonton (1-4-1) survived a major scare when Tampa Bay right winger
Brett Connolly scored to tie it 2-2 with six minutes left in
regulation. However, Nugent-Hopkins secured the victory when he put
one in off the post for his first goal of the season.
"There were a lot of moments in the night when we felt good," Oilers
right winger Jordan Eberle said. "Even when they scored, we didn't
sink down. And I loved the crowd tonight, they just give us so much
energy when they're cheering and we're coming out of the tunnel, it
really lifts our team up."
In what looked like a lopsided matchup between the seventh- and
30th-place teams in the team (and the Lightning's fourth-ranked
offense vs. the Oilers' 25th-ranked offense), Tampa Bay struggled
all over the ice.
Needless to say, losing to the last-place team in the NHL didn't sit
all that well with the visitors.
"We have to be better," Lightning goalie Ben Bishop said. "We can't
come out and play like this on the road and expect to win. We had
too many breakdowns all over the ice. We showed some fight in the
third, but it still wasn't even close enough to win in this league.
"We just weren't making any plays. Any time we had the puck, we
turned it back over. We gave up more odd-man rushes tonight than we
have had all season. We have to be better."
Oilers goaltender Ben Scrivens (22 saves) and the shutdown defensive
pair of Mark Fayne and Martin Marincin kept the NHL's hottest goal
scorer, center Steve Stamkos, without a point. Meanwhile, the line
of Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins and left winger Taylor Hall won the battle
of skill, producing two goals.
"Those kind of guys really make you play your best, and I thought we
did a good job of handling them tonight," said Nugent-Hopkins, who
played 21 minutes in the win. "The top guys definitely take a lot of
responsibility on themselves and put the pressure on themselves. You
try and go out there every night and perform. When the top players
are the top players every night, that's when we're going to be an
excellent team."
After a scoreless first period, the Lightning jumped on top when a
centering pass banked in off Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz's
skate at 1:22 of the second period. The goal was credited to Tampa
Bay center Brian Boyle.
Edmonton responded with a fluke of its own three minutes later when
a Schultz backhander that was headed wide banked in off the knob of
Bishop's stick.
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The Oilers took their first lead of the game at 14:57 of the second
when Fayne sent Taylor Hall in on a breakaway. The left winger was
hauled down from behind, but he scored with a backhand deke on the
ensuing penalty shot for his fourth goal in five games.
"Tonight was one game, another step in the right direction, but
those winning habits don't come overnight," Scrivens said. "It takes
a lot of repetition for them to be second nature, and we have a long
way to go, but this was a good step."
Bishop finished with 20 saves for the Lightning (3-2-1).
Edmonton's victory leaves the Carolina Hurricanes (0-2-2) as the
NHL's lone winless team.
"I'd say we looked like a winless club tonight," Tampa Bay coach Jon
Cooper said. "In the third, I thought we played desperate. If we had
played that way in the first two periods, who knows how the game
turns out.
"(The Oilers) got some breaks, but they earned them. I'm not sure
for a couple of periods that we earned ours."
NOTES: The Lightning sustained a major blow when they learned that D
Victor Hedman is out for four to six weeks. He needs surgery to
repair a broken finger on his right hand, an injury he sustained
while blocking a shot Saturday in Vancouver. ... Tampa Bay LW
Jonathan Drouin, the third overall draft pick in 2013, joined the
team after a brief AHL conditioning stint and made his NHL debut
after C Alex Killorn slid into the boards and was injured at the
morning skate. Drouin was out due to a broken thumb. ... Oilers G
Viktor Fasth, out with a groin injury, is back on the ice
practicing. There were fears he would be lost for six weeks, but the
injury isn't as severe as the one that kept him out for almost all
of last season.
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