Oilers use 3rd-period outburst to down Rangers
NEW YORK (AP) — Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod each had a goal and an assist in Edmonton’s four-goal third period, helping the Oilers beat the New York Rangers 4-3 on Friday night.
Zach Hyman and Evander Kane scored 1:08 apart early in the third to get the Oilers’ comeback started for their second straight win after losing three straight. Stuart Skinner stopped 31 shots.
“They came out fast,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I liked that we stuck with it. ... Skinner gave us a chance, held us in when we were down one. We were able to build our game in the second, and the third period was our strongest push.”
Coming off a 6-3 win at New Jersey on Thursday night, the Oilers head into the Christmas weekend having swept their first back-to-back of the season.
“That was a massive win for us,” Skinner said. “Feels so much better heading into the holiday break.”
Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist for New York, which had won three straight. Blake Wheeler and Will Cuylle also scored, and Chris Kreider had two assists.
Jonathan Quick finished with 24 saves while taking his first regulation loss of the season after a 9-0-1 start.
“I thought we were missing energy the entire night,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “We didn’t generate very much in the second period. That just kind of carried over into the third period. Quickie made some unbelievable saves in the second period that masked some of that. We didn’t have the pop we needed.”
The Oilers trailed 1-0 until a four-goal flurry over a 6:45 span in the third.
Hyman tied it at 3:07, putting a backhander past Quick for his team-leading 19th of the season. Kane then put the Oilers ahead at 4:15 when he knocked in his own rebound off a faceoff for his 13th.
Foegele made it 3-1 with his fifth on the season at 6:36. He cut right to left across the circles and fired it past Quick.
McLeod gave the Oilers a three-goal lead at 9:52 with his third in two games and No. 5 on the season.
With Quick pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage during a Rangers power play, Zibanejad knocked in a loose puck on left side of the crease for his 12th with 4:18 remaining.
Cuylle fired a shot past Skinner with 0.1 seconds remaining for the final margin.
The Oilers came in fourth in the NHL on the power play at 26.7%, but went 0 for 2 as they failed to convert with the man advantage for a season-high fourth straight game — falling to 0 for 10 over their drought.
The Rangers got on the scoreboard with just under nine minutes remaining in the first period. Zibanejad went behind the net after a dump-in, and sent a no-look drop pass between his skates to a trailing Wheeler, who quickly put it past Skinner from the right side.
It was Wheeler’s fifth of the season, giving him three goals and six points in his last five games. Zibanejad extended his point streak to six games with six goals and four assists in the stretch.
Quick made some stellar saves over the first two periods to keep the Oilers off the scoreboard.
Zibanejad fired a one-timer that knocked Skinner’s mask off less than 30 seconds into the second period. Artemi Panarin knocked the rebound into the wide-open net, but the goal was disallowed after a review. Skinner then made a nice blocker save on another try by Zibanejad later in the opening minute of the second during a power play that carried over from the first.
“Mika skated by me after I made a save to say ‘Now we’re even,’” Skinner said. “They were very nice about it. A bunch of guys come over to check on me.”
UP NEXT
Oilers: At San Jose on Thursday to open a three-game post-Christmas trip to California.
Rangers: Host Buffalo on Saturday night in the second of a three-game homestand.
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