Zach Hyman had two goals and an assist and Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 on Thursday.
“Happy with all the players,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “I thought they played a really good game and any time there was a break down I thought Picks came up with some big saves.”
“Everyone I thought was contributing.”
The win came five days after the Canucks beat Edmonton 3-2 in a chippy game at Vancouver.
“I think our composure; the way that we kept playing, even though they had their little push in the second period, but I thought we handled it fairly well,” Draisaitl said when asked about what he liked about how the team handled the latest game. “And then in the third we didn’t give up much.”
“All around I thought it was a good effort by us.”
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Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers sat out Thursday’s rematch after receiving three-game suspensions for cross-checking earlier in the week.
Adam Henrique, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for the Oilers (30-15-3), who have won nine of their last 12 games.
Brock Boeser and Filip Hronek replied for the Canucks (20-17-10) who have lost eight of 10.
Calvin Pickard made 24 stops in net for the Oilers while Thatcher Demko recorded 28 saves for the Canucks.
TAKEAWAYS
Canucks: Demko has been nowhere near his Vezina finalist form from last season. He fell to 3-5-3 with the loss.
Oilers: Draisaitl extended his overall point streak to eight games and his home point streak to 17 games. He has at least one point in 22 of his last 23 games.
KEY MOMENT
The Oilers grabbed a 2-0 lead on the power play with 5:38 left in the opening period as Nugent-Hopkins came out from behind the net and sent it to Draisaitl, who blasted his league-leading 35th goal of the season. Then, just 20 seconds later, Mattias Ekholm sent a backhander behind the net to Henrique, who scored his seventh of the campaign.
KEY STATS
The Canucks have outscored their opponents at even strength in just three of their last 16 games and haven’t won consecutive games in regulation since late November.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Return to Vancouver to host the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Oilers: Remain at home to face the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.