EDMONTON — Leon Draisaitl scored and got his 400th NHL assist when the Edmonton Oilers ended a five-game losing streak at home with a 4-2 win against the New York Islanders at Rogers Place on Thursday.
Connor McDavid had two assists to reach 500 in his NHL career, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also had two assists for the Oilers (21-17-2), who are 1-2-0 to begin a four-game homestand.
“It was a good team win for us,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “We controlled the game right from the drop of the puck and were able to finish it out. We have a lot of really proud people in our dressing room, and I saw them come together and play hard for each other. Nobody was happy with not closing some games out on this home stand and it’s a credit to our players, they went out and executed. They played hard for each other and found a way to win a game.”
Video: NYI@EDM: Holloway scores in 2nd period
Jack Campbell made 20 saves for his first win in three starts since Dec. 13.
“It’s huge for our group, you have to be good on home ice,” Campbell said. “We met yesterday, and it was a big game for us. The guys responded well and we got a big two points.”
Mathew Barzal scored for the fifth straight game (six goals), and Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves for the Islanders (22-16-2), who are 1-2-0 on a four-game road trip that concludes Friday against the Calgary Flames.
“We got off to a bad start. They came at us and we were unable to get going north,” New York defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “It’s just a matter of bearing down. It’s a matter of everybody individually having themselves ready to go and play the right way, the way that we can play. When we don’t do that, we don’t have a lot of success “
Video: NYI@EDM: Draisaitl whips in a one-timer for a PPG
Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 9:26 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer from the right face-off circle after receiving a cross-ice pass from McDavid on a power play. It was his 22nd goal of the season and ended a seven-game drought.
Kailer Yamamoto extended it to 2-0 with a short-handed goal at 18:40. After receiving a pass from McDavid, he dragged the puck around a sprawling Noah Dobson in the right circle before scoring five-hole.
Edmonton outshot New York 18-4 in the first period, including six shots on goal during two power-play opportunities.
“We knew they were going to come hard and that’s fine, but we failed to make little plays and you have to make little plays to get pucks out of your zone when teams are coming at you hard, and we didn’t do that, Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “It didn’t help that we gave their power play two chances early on, and they gained a bunch of momentum after that. We just have to be better and that’s it.”
Video: NYI@EDM: Yamamoto toe drags and whips in a SHG
Barzal cut it to 2-1 at 4:42 of the second period, scoring from the right circle after receiving a pass from Josh Bailey.
Dylan Holloway restored Edmonton’s two-goal lead at 8:34 with a one-timer from the high slot to make it 3-1, and Zach Hyman scored on a breakaway at 15:17 after receiving a stretch pass from Draisaitl for a 4-1 lead.
Cal Clutterbuckwho missed the previous eight games with an upper-body injury, tipped in a shot Scott Mayfield at 19:07 for the 4-2 final.
“It was nice to get a win at home. It had been a little while, too long for us,” Hyman said. “We started off really well and made an emphasis on playing a full 60 [minutes]. Even though they got that goal at the end of the second period, we didn’t fall off our game, we didn’t deter. We just kept playing our game and weren’t on our heels, we were pushing the pace and I think that’s what you need to do.”
NOTES: McDavid has 500 assists in 527 NHL games, the fifth-fewest games needed behind Wayne Gretzky (352), Mario Lemieux (433), Peter Stastny (507) and Bobby Orr (522). He was named to the Pacific Division roster for the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game, and Islanders forward Brock Nelson was selected for the Metropolitan Division. … Draisaitl extended his personal point streak and personal assist streak to five games each (one goal, five assists). … Barzal extended his point streak to five games (six goals, two assists). … Dobson played his 200th NHL game.
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