Oilers' power play stays hot in victory over Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Warren Foegele and Leon Draisaitl scored power-play goals and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 Saturday night.
Brock Boeser scored for Vancouver with seven seconds left in the third period.
Edmonton's Mikko Koskinen stopped 29 shots in his fourth straight start in place of Mike Smith, who is sidelined due to a lower-body injury.
Thatcher Demko made 32 saves for the Canucks.
Connor McDavid had one assist and nine shots on goal. Conor Garland led the way with six shots for Vancouver.
The game was largely a defensive battle, with limited scoring chances for both sides.
The Oilers opened the scoring at 11:39 of the first, after Tyler Myers was whistled for hooking Edmonton’s Jesse Puljujarvi. With one second left on the man-advantage, Foegele scored on a rebound off a shot by Darnell Nurse past an outstretched Demko for his second of the year.
Draisaitl scored his fifth of the season with 40 seconds remaining in the second. With Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the penalty box, Draisaitl beat Demko with a one-timer from the right circle, set up by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid, who started the play by bouncing a shot off the shin of defender Luke Schenn.
Schenn played his 800th career NHL game for Vancouver.
The Canucks did not get a power-play opportunity until late in the third period, when they were pressing with Demko on the bench for the extra attacker. Koskinen’s two best saves of the game came while the Canucks pressed hard with the 6-on-4 advantage before Boeser beat him in the final seconds of the game.
The Canucks are winless this season at Rogers Arena and have scored just four goals in total during three losses in their season-opening, seven-game homestand.
Edmonton was held to two goals in regulation for just the second time this season.
NOTES: It was the second meeting between the Oilers and Canucks this season. On Oct. 13, Edmonton beat Vancouver 3-2 in a shootout in both teams’ season opener. … Edmonton held a 6-4-0 edge in last year’s North Division season series. … The Oilers and Canucks lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in their last games. It was Edmonton’s first defeat of the year. … Jason Dickinson and Tucker Poolman were back into the Vancouver lineup after missing Thursday’s game with injury.
UP NEXT
Edmonton: Host the expansion Seattle Kraken on Monday in the opener of a three-game home set.
Vancouver: Host the New York Rangers on Tuesday in the fourth game of a seven-game homestand.
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