The Oilers begin their four-game road trip with a lively win over the Red Wings

NHL
ice Hockey
Edmonton oiler

Luckily, the posts at Little Caesars Arena were painted pretty thick and the Oilers only had to fight off a one-goal deficit in the first half

Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) runs with the puck being pursued by Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) in the first period at Little Caesars Arena. Photo by Rick Osentoski /USA TODAY Sports

The Edmonton Oilers needed a break and three goal posts to shake off the rust of a nine-day hiatus, though the power play lasted little longer.

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Luckily for the Oilers, the posts at Little Caesars Arena were painted pretty thick, and they only had to defend themselves from a one-goal deficit in the first period in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

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Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele scored twice in the second half and took control of the competition. Foegele had been a healthy scratch in the Oilers’ previous game before bye week and the All-Star break.

“After such a long layoff, there’s a bit of nervousness about how the legs are going to be,” Foegele told Oilers TV. “But we had two solid drills beforehand and I thought our legs started walking throughout the game. It is a great win and we must continue it on this journey.”

Jack Campbell had another strong showing, making 31 saves and increasing his personal winning streak to seven games. The Oilers are 8-0-1 in their last night’s games.

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The Red Wings took the lead midway through the first period after Dylan Larkin saved Darnell Nurse’s soft chip off the glass at the blue line. The puck landed on Lucas Raymond’s bat while the rest of the Oilers ran the other way, and he slipped it to Tyler Bertuzzi for the tap-in.

The Oilers were lucky not to fall any lower when Robby Fabbri hit the goalpost and stared at an open net from the front on a rebound, then both Moritz Seider and Jonatan Berggren wired shots off the irons.

“I thought it would be a good away win for our team,” said Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. “I thought the game had some positive aspects; I really enjoyed our first five minutes into the game and I thought we came out and asserted how we wanted to play.

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“The other team pushed back and scored through a breakout error, but I thought the first five, six minutes of the second period went well for us and we found ways to make them pay for some of their mistakes.”

McLeod equalized three minutes into the second period, slotting a pass from Philip Broberg, waiting for Evander Kane to clear two defenders and flicking a shot past Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso, who was 22 parades completed.

Foegele gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead just 32 seconds later, burying a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins pass in the two-for-one rush. The goal was Foegele’s sixth of the season, and his seventh came just over eight minutes later from Vincent Desharnais’s goal. The shot ricocheted off some sticks in front and then hit Foegele on the way past Husso.

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“I’m very pleased with Warren Foegele, especially in January and February,” said Woodcroft. “He didn’t play the last game and it wasn’t because he did anything wrong, it was because we left with a lineup of 11 (forward) and seven (defenders).

“One of the things we don’t want to do is make sure people aren’t out of the lineup for too long. I thought he played a great game, it’s one of the best games I’ve seen Warren Foegele play; He should be feeling really good and nobody is happier for him than his teammates and coaching staff.”

The Oilers had two good chances to extend their powerplay lead, but failed to concede both times. The Oilers went into the game with the best power-play efficiency in league history at 32.0 percent.

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Not scoring against the 21st-ranked penalty in the league proved costly late in the second half as Joe Veleno cut the lead to 3-2 with nine seconds remaining with a shot from the left faceoff circle, expired shortly after a hook penalty to Michael Rasmussen.

Foegele had a good shot at a hat-trick in the third section, knocking down the wing but missing his shot.

The game developed an advantage when Kane mixed it up with Bertuzzi seven minutes into the third period. The Oilers got away on the power play but again failed to convert. Seconds later, Foegele failed on a forward pass and then Campbell came up with a big glove save against Berggren at a breakaway to maintain the lead.

“In today’s NHL, there are a lot of people who feel like they can get in there, and the umpires often bail them out,” Kane said. “It was a bit of a snappy, slimy game at the start of the second period and we have some guys on our team who don’t mind going on the bell. We feel very safe and comfortable in games like this.”

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Nugent-Hopkins increased the lead to 4-2 with a power play goal at 15:38 of the third period on a shot from the right faceoff circle. The goal fell on the fourth man of the game for the Oilers.

Kane scored an empty-net short-handed goal at 2:27 to end the game. shoot the puck across the ice from its own end. Two goals down and a power play, the Red Wings had pulled Husso to a two-man advantage.

“We wanted to pick up where we left off and Detroit came out and played a really strong game,” Campbell said. “This is a great building to play in and we got two big points so it’s a great way to start the road trip.”

The Oilers continue their four-game road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday. They will face off against the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens in back-to-back matinees on Saturday and Sunday.

Email: [email protected]

On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest

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Source: edmontonsun.com

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