Hurricanes win fourth straight, hand Oilers fifth loss in row

EDMONTON -- Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist for the Carolina Hurricanes, who extended their winning streak to four games with a 3-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday.

"He is a special player," Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. "We've had him for a long time now, and we know what he's capable of, and it's good that everyone else is starting to realize that."

Nino Niederreiter scored, Teuvo Teravainen had two assists, and Frederik Andersen made 22 saves for Carolina (19-6-1).
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored, and Mikko Koskinen made 28 saves for Edmonton (16-10-0), which has lost five straight, including the first four of six straight home games.
"I don't know how many times you want me to say the same thing here, but I thought, again, that we did some good things," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "We generated some chances but didn't find a way to put it in. That has kind of been the story of this homestand.
"I don't know what else you want me to say. We tried making plays, we tried blasting it right through the guy (Andersen), he was good."
It is the third game neither McDavid nor Leon Draisaitl scored a point this season. They combined for six shots, and the Oilers were 0-for-2 on the power play.
"Those are the games you get up for a little bit more," Slavin said. "They're world-class players and special, so when you get a chance to play against them, and try to shut them down, those are the games you dream of as a kid. … Our whole team did a great job top to bottom shutting those guys down."
Aho scored on the power play at 7:17 of the first period to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. He had his backhand stopped by Koskinen and then scored on the rebound.
He has scored 12 points (five goals, seven assists) during a five-game multipoint streak.
"You don't really think a lot about having to score more or produce more, it's more the other stuff that comes first on our team, and making sure you do every detail right," Aho said. "You just have to trust your linemates, that they're going to see [me] when I'm open, and [then] when I have the puck [that] I can make the right play, but the work comes first."

Niederreiter made it 2-0 at 6:19 of the second period off a 1-on-1 against Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.
Nugent-Hopkins scored on a breakaway at 10:11 to make it 2-1. He took a pass from Jesse Puljujarvi and scored on a low shot to the glove side.
Zach Hyman had an opportunity to tie the game on the power play at 11:13 of the third period but was unable to hit an open net on the rebound of a Nugent-Hopkins shot.
"I don't see us executing well enough to get the speed we need in our game," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "That's a fast team, they come at you quick, so the execution is harder. I understand that, but our execution breaking out of our zone, making a play under pressure, is not what it needs to be right now. There are too many plays that just look [like a] mishmash instead of clean."
Aho scored at 17:16, capitalizing on a turnover behind the net by Koskinen for the 3-1 final.
"You really have to tip the hat to the guys. I thought we had a really good game," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "At the end, we took a couple of penalties, and they got a little momentum off that, but we killed those. … Overall, it was a pretty solid effort."
With 3:16 remaining, Hyman appeared to sustain a shoulder injury after taking a hard hit along the boards from Brady Skjei. The forward did not return, and according to Tippett was held out for precautionary reasons.
NOTES: Aho has a three-game goal streak (five goals) and has scored two goals in consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 7 and 10, 2019, against the Minnesota Wild (three goals) and the Oilers (two goals). … Hurricanes defenseman Ethan Bear had one shot on goal and blocked one shot in 10:56 of ice time in his first game against his former team since being traded on July 28 for forward Warren Foegele. He scored 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists) in 132 games with the Oilers. … Edmonton's five-game losing streak is its longest since it lost five games from March 28-April 4, 2019.