Oilers score 4 in 3rd period, hold off Rangers

The Edmonton Oilers scored four goals in the third period for a second straight game in a 4-3 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday.

Zach Hyman and Evander Kane scored 1:10 apart, and Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers (15-15-1), who scored four in the third in their 6-3 win at the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Stuart Skinner made 31 saves.

“It started with keeping it simple,” Foegele said. “It kind of happened yesterday; we just stayed composed and once we got one momentum, it just continued. Guys are hopping over the boards taking pucks to the net, and it was a great team effort by the guys and we were happy to get the win.”

Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kreider had two assists for the Rangers (22-8-1), who had won three in a row and host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Jonathan Quick made 24 saves.

Quick allowed four goals on 10 shots in the third after shutting the Oilers out for five straight periods; he made 29 saves in a 3-0 win at Edmonton on Oct. 26.

“I thought throughout the whole game, it wasn’t a great game by us by any means,” Zibanejad said. “I thought in the second [period] we had a few power plays and 5-on-5 shifts that we couldn’t make anything happen either way. They got their power play, and obviously we have to come out better than that in the third.

“We didn’t get up to our level. We still had the lead going into the third, but we have to be better than that and we have a chance redeem ourselves tomorrow and finish on a good note before the [holiday] break.”

Blake Wheeler gave New York a 1-0 lead at 11:03 of the first period. Zibanejad tipped a puck rimmed around the boards out in front from behind the net to Wheeler, who scored five-hole.

“That was special and he’s a special player,” Wheeler said. “I’m obviously fortunate to be out there with a guy like that. It was just a heck of a play.”

Skinner made 14 saves in the second period to keep Edmonton within a goal.

“I just felt pretty good in there, the guys did a great job,” Skinner said. “The PK was good tonight (2-for-3) and obviously you have to score goals to win games, too, so props to the guys in front of me.”

Hyman tied it 1-1 at 3:07 of the third when he took a pass from Mattias Ekholm in the slot and scored on a backhand.

Kane gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 4:17, getting to a loose puck in the slot and shooting it past Quick.

Foegele made it 3-1 at 6:36 when he took a drop pass from McLeod at the Rangers blue line and scoring on a shot from the slot.

McLeod scored at 9:52 after Foegele got to his rebound at the side of the net and slid the puck back out in front to make it 4-1.

“I thought we were missing energy the entire night,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “We didn’t generate very much in the second period, and that kind of carried over into the third period. ‘Quicky’ made some unbelievable saves in the second period to mask some of that.

“Throughout the entire game, we didn’t have the pop that we needed. When we didn’t start to skate a little bit towards them, we went east-west and turned the puck over and that kind of kills everything and they can come back at you very quick.”

Zibanejad cut it to 4-2 at 15:42 on a 6-on-4 power play with Quick on the bench for an extra attacker, poking in a loose puck during a scramble in front.

Will Cuylle scored at 19:59 with Quick on the bench for the 4-3 final.

“They came out hard; they’re a fast and a big team and didn’t give us much room,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “But as the game went on, we started to give ourselves some more room and make more plays.

“I like that we stuck with it and obviously in the third period, that was our strongest push.”
 
NOTES: Edmonton center Connor McDavid had an assist to give him 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) in his past 15 games. … McLeod has three goals in his past two games; he scored twice in his first 29 this season. … The Rangers extended their streak of power-play goals to six games. They have scored at least once with the man-advantage in 11 of their past 13 games, and their 31 power-play goals this season rank second in the NHL (Tampa Bay Lightning, 34) … New York forward Artemi Panarin did not have a point at home for the first time this season; he had 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) on a 13-game home point streak.