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EDMONTON – It may be a win, but the Edmonton Oilers feel like they’re still a work in progress.
Leon Draisaitl scored the winner on a slapshot as the Oilers won their second straight preseason game, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Monday.
Corey Perry and Ben Gleason also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 3-3 in the NHL exhibition.
“We wanted to raise our fight level a little bit,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who registered a pair of assists on the night. “I believe everyone has another level they can reach. Hopefully we’ll get there this week.
“We haven’t played much with our group. To have some rhythm and camaraderie, all those things are important.”
Much of the focus was on getting the first look at a potentially new second line of powerhouse Draisaitl, Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner.
“They’re just getting used to each other right now,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They had some good chances, probably not as many as you would expect in a game like tonight. But it was a good first step.”
Arshdeep Bains and Nate Smith answered for the Canucks (2-2-1), who have lost three in a row.
“It’s not about the win or the loss, the group did a great job,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet, whose team fielded the less experienced lineup. “I’m very proud of the way they played. I like the way they stuck to it. That’s a good hockey club there, and I think we’ve done a nice job.”
There was no scoring in a fairly relaxed first period, with Edmonton putting eight shots on Canucks goalkeeper Kevin Lankinen and Vancouver responding with seven on Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner.
Vancouver broke the deadlock six minutes into the second period on the power play as Kiefer Sherwood made a nice pass from the side of the net to Bains, who unleashed a bullet before Skinner could cross.
Edmonton almost responded a few minutes later as Perry was sent in alone, but he was unable to deck his way past Lankinen.
The Canucks led 16-15 on the shot clock through 40 minutes.
The Oilers tied the game four minutes into the third period as Perry swept out in front of the net and made a nice move and got the puck behind Lankinen this time.
Edmonton took the lead on the power play midway through the third as McDavid sent it back to Gleason who sent a hard shot into the net​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
However, Vancouver answered back just 19 seconds later as Smith deftly redirected Kirill Kudryavtsev’s shot through Skinner’s legs, eventually sending the game into overtime.
Vancouver had a wide open net to shoot late in overtime, but Draisaitl picked up Daniel Sprong’s stick at the last second.
NOTES
It was the first meeting between the two teams since the Oilers defeated the Canucks 3-2 in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series in May … Edmonton released veteran forward Mike Hoffman from PTO on Monday, and made the Canucks likewise with PTO invite Sammy Blais … The Oilers are down to 36 players (five injured) in camp and hope to trim to 27 players before the team’s final two preseason games. Defenseman Darnell Nurse is expected to be back for one of the final two tilts, and backup goaltender Calvin Pickard is expected to return to the ice in a few days after suffering a blow to the head on Saturday against Seattle … Vancouver star forward JT Miller has skated all but not yet suited up for a game, while defenseman Quinn Hughes has played just one.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Host the Oilers on Friday.
Oilers: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on September 30, 2024.
Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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