Bruins Shut Out by Oilers in Fifth Straight Loss

BOSTON -- Stuart Skinner made 26 saves, and Adam Henrique scored twice for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-0 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Boston on Tuesday.

Skinner was not awarded the shutout after being taken off the ice by a concussion spotter and missing the final 5:25 of the first period following a collision with Boston defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who was called for goaltender interference. He was replaced by Calvin Pickard, who did not face a shot. Skinner then returned to start the second period.

“Honestly, it’s a smart call. He got me pretty good, I think that’s, like, the fifth hit I’ve got this year,” Skinner said. “He apologized after, at the start of the second period, which was really nice of him to do. It’s an NHL play, it happens.

“I think I proved to myself in situations that happen like that, which I’m guessing is going to happen again at some point in my career, then I know that I can come back in and do my job.”

Connor McDavid and Viktor Arvidsson also scored for the Oilers (25-12-3), who have won four straight and seven of nine (7-1-1). Brett Kulak had two assists, and Leon Draisaitl had his 14-game point streak (12 goals, 15 assists) come to an end.

“Especially in the first half of the game, I thought we defended really well,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We did have some breakdowns, and Stu came up with some really big saves. And then in the third period, obviously, they had a strong push and it was a big performance from him.”

Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves for the Bruins (20-18-5), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1) and six of seven (1-5-1).

“They wanted it more, it’s pretty simple,” Boston forward Charlie Coyle said. “I think it was kind of a lack of urgency, a lot of things that are embarrassing to say right now. They just wanted it more.”

Henrique put the Oilers ahead 1-0 at 6:33 of the first after Corey Perry found him with a pass from behind the net into the slot for a quick-release wrist shot past Swayman’s glove.

“I just think we have to find some solutions right now. We showed in Edmonton that we played well enough to beat them there,” Bruins coach Joe Sacco said of their first meeting of the season Dec. 19, which the Oilers won 3-2 in overtime. “We’ve played against some of the top teams in the League and we played well. That was not the case tonight.

“They were certainly playing at a higher level than we were, right from the drop of the puck. They won the majority of races to the pucks, they were quicker than us, they won more 1-on-1 battles. So, we pretty much got what we deserved here tonight.”

McDavid made it 2-0 on the power play at 11:11 of the second, getting sent in on a breakaway by a feed from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins before stickhandling in on Swayman and scoring stick side.

It was the Oilers captain’s first goal in eight games and first point in three.

“I don’t think we played our style of hockey,” Boston forward Trent Frederic said. “The way this team’s built, it’s hard to get into a run-and-gun with a team like that. That’s the game they want to play. We just played right into their hands, and we’re not going to win many games that way, playing like that and not playing our style, not playing the game plan we had lined up for us tonight.”

Henrique’s second goal of the game made it 3-0 at 16:35, this time on a pass from behind the net by Jeff Skinner. After Coyle turned the puck over to Zach Hyman, who sent it in behind the net, Henrique got off another quick shot from the top of the right circle, far side past Swayman.

“A committed, good game from everybody. We were solid throughout, start to finish and top to bottom,” Henrique said. “I was fortunate to get the two goals, but (Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid) made a great play on the power play, Stu taking the hit and then making big saves at key times too. So, there was a lot that went right tonight.”

Arvidsson scored an empty-net goal at 16:25 of the third period for the 4-0 final.

NOTES: Stuart Skinner and Pickard combined for their second shared shutout and the third overall in Oilers history. They shared a previous one on March 10, 2024, along with Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog on Jan. 8, 1985. ... Skinner earned a win in his 150th NHL game. His 88 career wins through 150 games are the second most in Edmonton history behind Moog (92). The only other Oilers goalie with at least 80 wins through as many games was Fuhr (85). … Nugent-Hopkins extended his point streak to four games (three goals, one assist).