*Photo from TSN*
The Edmonton Oilers are hot, and at just the right time. Kris Russell scored, Warren Foegele scored, and the Oilers shut out the Vegas Golden Knights with a convincing 4-0 victory on Saturday night in Edmonton.
Russell's first period goal was a monumental one, as it was the first goal that he has scored in 3 years, 126 games to be exact, with his last goal coming on March 17 of 2019, also against Vegas. The Oilers are 5 points behind the Calgary Flames for the Pacific Division lead, and have won 8 of their last 10 games.
Oilers interim head coach Jay Woodcroft said that "We got contributions for up and down the lineup. Different people are finding ways to contribute, and that's what good teams have, a lot of contributing and productive players. The way we're asking our players to play is not an easy style, but our players are putting the work in and it's fun to see them execute."
Getting the start in goal for the Oilers was Mike Smith, who is red hot as of late. Smith stopped all 39 shots that came his way, recording his 44th career shutout. It's also his second shutout in a row, after shutting out the Nashville Predators on Thursday. In the month of April, Smith has a 6-0-0 record, improving his season record to 13-9-2 in 24 starts.
The lone goal of the first period came from Russell, who scored the monumental goal 16:26 into the opening period, putting the Oilers ahead 1-0, assisted by Zack Kassian and Ryan McLeod. It would be the only goal for a good stretch of time, until the 3rd period.
Once the 3rd period began, Cody Ceci picked up his 5th goal of the season, scoring a mere 35 seconds into the 3rd, putting the Oilers up 2-0 with assists from Evander Kane and Darnell Nurse. 5:16 into the period, Foegele added his 12th goal of the season, making it a 3-0 Oilers lead. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins put the exclamation point up with a shorthanded goal late in regulation.
Asked about the whole team's play lately, Smith said that "I think everyone is just committed to winning, and you can tell. There is a second and third effort, there is a willingness to block a shot or box a guy out or the little things it takes to win hockey games that we talk about all the time. When you do it on a consistent basis, you get good results and I think we're getting that right now."
Starting for the Golden Knights was rookie Logan Thompson, who couldn't hold the fort. Thompson saved 32 out of the 36 shots he faced from the Oilers. He posted a .889 save percentage, with his record dropping to 8-5-0 on the season, in 13 starts and 14 total appearances.
Golden Knights head coach Pete Deboer said that "We have to regroup. We've talked about this, we knew we weren't going to run the table and we talked about two weeks ago, we were going to drop some points along the way, but we're still right in the thick of things. We have to have a short memory and get ready for the next one."
Up next, the Golden Knights face the New Jersey Devils on Monday night back home, with Robin Lehner a possible candidate to start if he rejoins the team in time. Otherwise, Thompson would be in line to start. The Oilers take on the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night, with Smith in line to start.
Comments
Post a Comment