Thursday hockey: Sharks, Zadina top slumping Oilers; Knight rises in Rivalry Series
San Jose, Calif. – Tomas Hertl scored a goal and Filip Zadina equalled his goal output in Detroit last year to help the San Jose Sharks win their second straight game following 11 consecutive losses to open the season, 3-2 over the slumping Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
“It was by far the best game of the year," Hertl said. "I think everybody played really well. It wasn’t just one guy. … I’m really proud of the group after two tough losses.”
In a matchup of the NHL's two worst teams so far this season, it was Connor McDavid and the Oilers who ended up on the losing end despite having 49 more shot attempts than San Jose.
“I don’t really know what to say,” forward Leon Draisaitl said. “We tend to outshoot other teams consistently, probably out-chance other teams consistently. We're not in sync right now.”
Hertl assisted on Fabian Zetterlund's goal that opened the scoring in the first period and then took advantage of a fortunate bounce to score midway through the second period.
Zadina, a former first-round draft pick by the Red Wings, added an insurance goal early in the third when he scored on a 2-on-1 rush off a pass from Nico Sturm.
Zadina has three goals in 13 games this year, equalling his three-goal season in 30 games with Detroit last year.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 39 saves, coming up big on an Edmonton power-play late in the game after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored with the goalie pulled with 2:26 to play.
San Jose has held its last two opponents to one goal after giving up 10 in back-to-back losses.
"It feels good to back up what we did the other night, and even better,” coach David Quinn said.
Darnell Nurse also scored for the Oilers.
McDavid, who led the NHL with 64 goals last season, has no goals in his last seven games. The Oilers have lost four straight and have one win in their last nine contests. Their five points are tied with the 1993-94 team for the fewest through 12 games in franchise history and tied with San Jose for the fewest this season.
“We can’t really be looking at the standings right now,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “We got to look within ourselves and not worry about the rest of what’s going on around us.”
Stuart Skinner made 15 saves for Edmonton in the first game since the Oilers sent high-priced goalie Jack Campbell to the AHL in what coach Jay Woodcroft described as a “message” to his struggling team.
Woodcroft said after the move that he expected the Oilers to play their best game of the season but that didn't materialize. Woodcroft said he wasn't worried about his job security
“I worry about taking care of my daily business and my daily process and making sure that I give my players something to focus on and concentrate on,” he said. “No one’s happy with where we’re at. We all own it. We can be better and that’s where my focus is.”
The Sharks responded late in the period when Nikita Okhtiuk's pass deflected off Zetterlund to an open Hertl in the slot. Hertl beat Skinner for his second goal of the season.
That was enough to give the Sharks their second win of the season after tying a record with 11 straight losses – including one in a shootout – to open the season.
More Thursday games
(At) Boston 5, N.Y. Islanders 2: Charlie Coyle had his first career hat trick – thanks to an empty-netter spoon-fed to him by David Pastrnak – and Linus Ullmark made 27 saves in Boston's victory over New York.
Coyle also assisted on a goal in the first period for four points on the night to help the defending Presidents Trophy winners win for the 11th time in their first 13 games. They are tied with Stanley Cup champion Vegas for the NHL points lead.
Pastrnak and Trent Frederic also scored for Boston. Brock Nelson and Simon Holmstrom scored for New York.
Seattle 4, (at) Colorado 3: Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his second goal of the game with 32 seconds remaining and Seattle beat Colorado.
Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers (Michigan) also scored to help the Kraken hand the Avalanche their first home loss in five games this season.
Philipp Grubauer had 23 saves against his former team. He also helped knock off Colorado last season in the first round of the playoffs.
Bowen Byram, Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin scored for Colorado.
There was a scary moment midway through the second period when Colorado forward Artturi Lehkonen took a bump from defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and slid head-first into the boards. Lehkonen was taken to the hospital.
Vancouver 5, (at) Ottawa 2: Elias Pettersson had a goal and two assists to take the NHL points lead and Vancouver beat Ottawa for its fifth straight victory.
Pettersson has 24 points on seven goals and 17 assists. He has five goals and nine assists during a seven-game points streak.
Ilya Mikheyev scored twice, Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller added goals and Casey DeSmith made 28 saves to help Vancouver improve to 10-2-1.
Drake Batherson and Artem Zub scored for Ottawa.
Pittsburgh 4, (at) Los Angeles 3 (OT): Bryan Rust (Pontiac) scored on a wraparound at 3:45 of overtime and Pittsburgh beat Los Angeles to sweep a California trip for the first time since 1996-97.
Rust appeared to put in his own rebound 17 seconds earlier, but the goal was waved off when he was ruled offside.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, Lars Eller and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Penguins. Magnus Hellberg stopped 34 shots. Adrian Kempe, Carl Grundstrum and Kevin Fiala scored for Los Angeles.
Chicago 5, (at) Tampa Bay 3: Top draft pick Connor Bedard had his first multi-point game with two goals and two assists and Chicago beat Tampa Bay to snap an eight-game losing streak against the Lightning.
Rookie defenseman Kevin Korchinski and ex-Lightning forwards Tyler Johnson and Corey Perry also scored for Chicago, and Petr Mrazek made 31 saves. Anthony Cirelli, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning.
(At) Winnipeg 6, Nashville 3: Kyle Connor (Michigan) had a hat trick and added an assist to help Winnipeg beat Nashville.
Connor has 11 goals this season, five in the last two games.
Cole Perfetti, Mason Appleton and Brenden Dillon also scored, Mark Scheifele had three assists and Laurent Brossoit made 20 saves. Winnipeg improved to 7-4-2.
Filip Forsberg scored twice for Nashville, Philip Tomasino added a goal. Nashville has lost two in a row and four of five to fall to 5-8-0.
(At) N.Y. Rangers 4, Minnesota 1: Alexis Lafreniere scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and added two assists, Louis Domingue made 26 saves in his first NHL game in nearly 18 months and New York Rangers beat Minnesota.
Vincent Trocheck also had a goal and two assists, Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, and Blake Wheeler also scored as the Rangers won for the eighth time in nine games. Brandon Duhaime scored for the Wild.
(At) St. Louis 2, Arizona 1: Robert Thomas broke a tie in the second period and St. Louis held off Arizona.
Oskar Sundqvist also scored, and Joel Hofer had 19 saves to help the Blues win for the third time in their last four games. Lawson Crouse scored for Arizona, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 31 shots.
Dallas 5, (at) Columbus 2: Matt Duchene scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and Dallas beat Columbus to snap a two-game losing streak.
Mason Marchment, Craig Smith and Jason Robertson also scored, and Jake Oettinger stopped 28 shots for Dallas. Boone Jenner and Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus.
United States 3, Canada 1, Rivalry Series
Captain Hilary Knight had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 victory over Canada in the opening game of the Rivalry Series on Wednesday night in Tempe, Arizona.
The series continues Saturday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (4 p.m., NHL Network).
Sweden 7, United States 6 (SO), U18 Five Nations
Team USA forward Brodie Ziemer had three assists in a 7-6 shootout loss against Sweden at the world U18 Five Nations on Thursday in Hameenlinna, Finland.
The U.S. will face host Finland on Friday.
Canada Red 4, United States 3 (OT), U17 Hockey Challenge
U.S. goalie Patrick Quinlan turned aside a career-high 38 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss against Canada Red at the world U17 Hockey Challenge on Thursday in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
Team USA finished 3-0-2-0 during the preliminary round and advances to the semifinals on Friday against the winner of the game between Czechia and Finland.
Local hockey this week
Thursday game
▶ Montreal 3, Red Wings 2 (OT)
Friday's games
▶ Grand Rapids at Toronto, 7 (AHL/106.9)
▶ Fargo Force at NTDP U18, 7
▶ Minnesota at Michigan, 7 (Big Ten+)
▶ Penn State at Michigan State, 7 (Big Ten/1240)
▶ St. Cloud State at Western Michigan, 7
▶ Michigan Tech at Bermidji State, 8
▶ Lake Superior State at Northern Michigan, 7
▶ Minnesota State at Ferris State, 7
▶ Little Caesars U19 girls at CCM World Invite/Detroit
Saturday's games
▶ Columbus at Red Wings, 1 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Grand Rapids at Toronto, 7 (AHL/106.9)▶ Fargo Force at NTDP U18, 7
▶ Minnesota at Michigan, 7 (Big Ten+)
▶ Penn State at Michigan State, 4 (Big Ten/730)
▶ St. Cloud State at Western Michigan, 6
▶ Michigan Tech at Bermidji State, 7
▶ Lake Superior State at Northern Michigan, 6
▶ Minnesota State at Ferris State, 7
▶ Little Caesars U19 girls at CCM World Invite/Detroit
Monday game
Canada White 3, United States 2 (SO) in World U17 Challenge
Tuesday games
▶ N.Y. Rangers 5, Red Wings 3
▶ Canada Red 4, United States 3 (OT)