Draisaitl has 4 points, Oilers beat Flames 5-3 to stop slide
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl had two goals and two assists, Evan Bouchard also scored twice and the Edmonton Oilers came from behind to snap a seven-game losing streak Saturday night with a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.
Brendan Perlini added a goal for the Oilers (19-16-2), who were 2-11-2 in their previous 15 games. Connor McDavid chipped in with two assists, and Mikko Koskinen made 44 saves.
Matthew Tkachuk, Milan Lucic and Noah Hanifin scored for the Flames (18-12-6), who are 3-8-1 in their last 12 games. Hanifin had two assists, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 26 of 30 shots.
As usual, Edmonton allowed the first goal of the game. It came at 8:29 of the first period as Tkachuk lifted a rebound over Koskinen’s leg to tie for the team lead with his 18th goal. It was the 15th time in the last 16 games — and the 24th in the past 28 — that the Oilers gave up the first goal.
Calgary made it 2-0 on a power-play goal with 41 seconds remaining in the first as Lucic tipped Hanifin’s shot through Koskinen’s legs.
Edmonton got on the board 5:35 into the second when Bouchard’s drive from the point on the power play beat Markstrom. McDavid got an assist to avoid going pointless for four games in a row for the first time in his career.
Bouchard picked the top corner for his second power-play goal of the game midway through the middle period to tie it 2-all.
The Oilers surged in front with 1:42 left in the second when Perlini beat Markstrom with a long wrist shot. But the Flames erased that lead less than a minute later on an even longer shot from Hanifin.
Edmonton went up 4-3 with 5:31 left in the third period as Draisaitl showed tremendous patience in waiting for Markstrom to go down before putting the puck in the net.
Draisaitl added an empty-netter with one second to play for his 28th goal of the season.
NOTES: It was the first meeting between the heated provincial rivals since Oct. 16, a game won 5-2 by Edmonton with Oilers goalie Mike Smith making 45 saves. … The Flames were without Tyler Pitlick (undisclosed) and Tyler Parsons (ankle). … Edmonton was missing Mike Smith (thumb), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (lower body), Zach Hyman (COVID-19 protocol), Zack Kassian (non-COVID-19 illness) and Tyson Barrie (upper body).
UP NEXT
Flames: Host the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.
Oilers: At the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
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