Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist, helping the Edmonton Oilers top slumping Chicago 5-4 on Wednesday night for their third straight win.
Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mattias Janmark each had a goal and an assist as Edmonton improved to 2-0 in Chicago this season. Brett Kulak had two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 21 saves.
“Just got to keep building and we can’t be satisfied with three wins in a row and the record we have,” Janmark said. “We’ve just got to keep moving forward here.”
“It is good to see that we do fight back right to the end,” first-year Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “But we have to be more stingy defensively without taking away from our offence.”
McDavid got Edmonton some breathing room when he skated past Chicago defenseman Jack Johnson at the blue line and beat Arvid Soderblom on the goaltender’s stick side, making it 3-1 with his team-best 18th goal 1:18 into the third period.
WATCH | McDavid scores spectacular goal in win over Chicago:
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Connor McDavid scores an incredible goal in the third period against Chicago then Edmonton would hold on for a 5-4 victory.
After Janmark finished a 2-on-1 with Nugent-Hopkins midway through the third, Domi and Entwistle scored 19 seconds apart to get Chicago (6-12-4) back in the game.
But Edmonton’s two biggest stars went right back to work. McDavid set up Draisaitl’s 15th goal on a one-timer with 4:39 left.
Now that our heart rates have lowered let’s take a look at that last Leo goal. 😮💨 <a href=”https://t.co/veo4U6myTU”>pic.twitter.com/veo4U6myTU</a>
—@EdmontonOilers
Chicago made one last push, closing to 5-4 on Domi’s second power-play goal with 1:11 left. But Chicago couldn’t come up with the tying score in the final moments.
Edmonton (13-10-0), which plays again Thursday night at Minnesota, jumped in front with two goals in the second.
Skating in his 500th NHL game, Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse found Draisaitl at the side of the net for an easy tap-in goal 54 seconds into the period.
When Doc sets up Drai 🤌 <a href=”https://t.co/DH4DEKqih1″>pic.twitter.com/DH4DEKqih1</a>
—@EdmontonOilers
A streaking Nugent-Hopkins made it 2-0 at 9:48 with his 10th goal, converting a nice feed by Puljujarvi from behind the net.
Edmonton also had a goal overturned in the first because of goaltender interference on Zach Hyman, who scored after he pushed Chicago defenceman Seth Jones into Soderblom. Hyman sent a shot off the inside of the post in the opening period.
Chicago got one back when Johnson’s long shot went off Katchouk and into the net 14:33 into the second. It was Katchouk’s first point in his 12th game of the season.
Oilers forward Tyler Benson made his season debut after being sidelined by a knee injury, while Chicago defenceman Jarred Tinordi (hip) and forward Sam Lafferty (back) were scratched because of injuries.
The Oilers next face the Wild in Minnesota on Thursday night.