The Nashville Predators saw their four-game point streak (3-0-1) come to an end Thursday with a 5-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Bridgestone Arena
Eleven different Oilers skaters found the scoresheet against the Predators, who fall to 3-6-1 in October.
How the Predators lined up vs. Edmonton
Forsberg-O’Reilly-Marchessault
Stamkos-Sissons-Nyquist
Pärssinen-Novak-Evangelista
L’Heureux-McCarron-Smith
Skjei-Josi
Lauzon-Carrier
Del Gaizo-Schenn
Saros
Wedgewood
Extra: Tomasino, Fabbro, Jankowski*
*The Predators announced at the start of warmups that Mark Jankowski is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Juuso Pärssinen drew back into the lineup for the second time this season (and first since Oct. 15 vs. Seattle).
Game Summary
It took just 37 seconds for Edmonton to get on the board, as former Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson chipped in the rebound off a Leon Draisaitl shot to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
The Predators had an answer minutes later on the power play, when Filip Forsberg fired a wrist shot past Calvin Pickard while Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was in the box for hooking against Jeremy Lauzon.
The score didn’t remain tied for long, though, as Corey Perry backhanded a rebound in off an original shot by Noah Philp to give the Oilers back the one-goal lead.
The first period came to an eventful end, as Cole Smith and Ty Emberson dropped the gloves after Emberson laid a big hit on Zachary L’Heureux along the boards with just under five minutes remaining in the frame.
Leon Draisaitl scored the lone goal of the second period for Edmonton, cashing in on a breakaway opportunity at 9:03 to put the Oilers up, 3-1.
Draisaitl struck again early in the third, driving past Brady Skjei and beating Juuse Saros to make it 4-1. Zach Hyman scored at 12:46 of the third period on a breakaway for the 5-1 final.
Key Takeaways
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Entering Thursday’s contest, the Predators were tied with the Dallas Stars for the No. 1-ranked penalty kill in the league (93.1%); the Oilers, meanwhile, ranked last (62.1%). Nashville capitalized on Edmonton’s penalty-killing struggles early with Forsberg’s game-tying tally on the man advantage just over five minutes into the first period.
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Philp, who had the primary assist on Perry’s first-period goal, was skating in his NHL debut for Edmonton Thursday. Philp and Drake Caggiula were recalled by the Oilers from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors in the wake of the lower-body injury suffered by Connor McDavid Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, will sideline him for approximately 2-3 weeks.
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With a pair of goals in Thursday’s contest, Draisaitl now has 26 goals in 26 career games against the Predators.
Up Next
The Predators are back at home Saturday to host the Colorado Avalanche at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast exclusively on Hulu/ESPN+ in the United States.
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