Kulak scores twice and McDavid scores first goal of season as Oilers beat Predators 4-2 – Edmonton
Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-2 victory over the reeling Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won back-to-back games after starting the season with a three-game skid.
Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).
Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. It lasted less than six minutes before Kulak equalized.
Receive national news daily
Get the day’s top news, politics, business and current affairs headlines delivered to your inbox once a day.
Kulak sealed the score with an empty net in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.
Takeaways
Oilers: Edmonton’s powerful power play has yet to find its rhythm. After going 0 for 4 on Thursday, the Oilers are 1 for 13 with the man advantage. McDavid scored 32 goals and 100 assists last season and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP despite Edmonton losing the Stanley Cup final to Florida.
Predators: Nashville is 0-4 for the first time since the 2002-03 season. The Predators hardly expected this start after spending big in the offseason, adding Marchessault — whose goal was his first as a Predator — as well as Steven Stamkos and Brady Skjei.
Key moment
Just 44 seconds after Nashville tied the score at 2 late in the second period, McDavid collected a puck in the low slot and fired a wrist shot over Saros.
Key statistic
Leon Draisaitl had an assist, giving him 43 points (25 goals, 18 assists) in 27 career games against the Predators.
To be continued
The Oilers will play at Dallas on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference final, while the Predators will host Detroit on Saturday.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
