Oilers pull away from Islanders in 3rd, win 1st game under Knoblauch

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers won their first game under coach Kris Knoblauch, 4-1 against the New York Islanders at Rogers Place on Monday.

“It felt incredible,” said Knoblauch, who was hired to replace Jay Woodcroft on Sunday. “... I had a game puck on my desk before the game started and I thought, ‘I have one but have two kids,’ and then we won, I got two, and so now we can make everyone happy. Maybe I won’t tell them which one is the game puck and which one is the souvenir puck.

“After the game, they did something really special. They had a video on the TV, they presented the puck and they had my wife on the TV just saying a few words, and that was very nice of them to do.”

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists, and Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist for Edmonton (4-9-1), which has won two straight. Stuart Skinner made 32 saves.

“It’s obviously exciting for [Knoblauch]. First win in the NHL," said McDavid, the Oilers captain. "It’s been a long road for him. It is well-deserved.

“It’s been a crazy couple days, a crazy 48 hours. It’s unfortunately something we have gone through before and we have responded the same way. It was everything that we have kind of been missing. Special teams were good and we got some third period offense. We have been missing that. I thought [Skinner] played really well and was there when we needed him."

Mathew Barzal scored, and Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves for New York (5-6-3), which has lost five straight (0-4-1).

“They get a couple power-play goals and take the lead, but our lines were going," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "A few lines had good looks, a lot of good opportunities, it’s just we’re not getting it to go in. That’s been killing us lately, and it’s just finding ways to get those penalties killed. But when you’re facing it and you’re feeling it and things are going the wrong way, it seems to pile on a little bit.

“So, we’ve got to stick together, take tomorrow, find a way and come back against Vancouver (on Wednesday). That’s all we can do. It’s frustrating. It’s not fun right now, but we’ve got to find some joy in this game and enjoy the challenge that we’re in right now and come out of it together.”

Barzal gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 40 seconds into the first period. He scored on a one-timer from the high slot after Mattias Ekholm turned the puck over along the right boards.

“I don’t have an answer for that simply because we put pucks to the net. We have opportunities," New York coach Lane Lambert said when asked about his team's struggles to score this season after getting the opening goal. "We have to capitalize on those scoring chances. I mean, we had plenty of shots, we had plenty of traffic, we’ve got to find a way to put pucks in the net.”

Draisaitl tied it 1-1 at 14:17 of the first. He took a pass from Darnell Nurse at the blue line, skated around Sebastian Aho and scored blocker side from the right face-off dot.

Zach Hyman gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 7:35 of the third period, scoring from the edge of the crease after McDavid chipped him a pass from along the goal line.

McDavid then pushed it to 3-1 at 9:33 with another power-play goal. He skated down the left wing on a rush and scored with a wrist shot that trickled past Sorokin.

"Our power play always says it is not about how many you get, it is about the ones you do get and the time you get them," McDavid said. "Those two in a big moment for our group, it was good.”

Evander Kane scored a short-handed goal into an empty net at 17:33 for the 4-1 final.

NOTES: McDavid had one assist in his previous five games. ... The Oilers won at Rogers Place for the first time this season. They entered the game 1-4-1 at home, but that one victory came against the Calgary Flames in the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium. ... Draisaitl moved past Paul Coffey for sixth in Oilers history with his 24th multipoint game. Wayne Gretzky leads with 158. ... The Islanders have been outscored 17-6 in their past four games.