Draisaitl scores twice in Oilers win against Sharks

EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl scored twice, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-2 at Rogers Place on Thursday.

Draisaitl has scored 44 goals this season, second in the NHL behind Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs (46).
Derick Brassard and Kailer Yamamoto each scored, Connor McDavid had two assists, and Mike Smith made 28 saves for the Oilers (36-24-5), who had lost two straight.
"I thought there were a lot of really good parts to our game tonight, we got a lot of contributions up and down our forward line and [defensive] pairings," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I thought we tried to play the game fast tonight, and that was noticeable.
"We got a really good performance out of Mike Smith, and the team effort was able to spread the minutes out tonight, so it was a good win for the team."

Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson each had a goal and an assist, and Timo Meier had two assists for the Sharks (28-28-8), who had won two in a row.
Kaapo Kahkonen made 36 saves in his first start since being acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
"I felt fine, felt good from the start. … Not the result we wanted, obviously," said Kahkonen, who is 0-6-1 in his past seven starts. "Good is not good enough in this league. I wish I could have made one or two more saves here, keep it a little closer, but overall, I felt fine. The guys have been great."
Karlsson gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 1:08 of the second period on a tap-in off a pass from Hertl.
"Just had an odd-man rush. The guys made a nice play, and 'Tommy' found me back door and I had all the time in the world to catch it and shoot it," Karlsson said. "Those are always nice, and hopefully we can get a few more of those hockey goals."
Yamamoto tied it 1-1 on the power play at 4:34 for his seventh goal in his past eight games.
"I thought [Kahkonen] battled hard," San Jose coach Bob Boughner said. "Obviously, a pretty high-powered octane offense there. He saw some heavy chances early on. I thought he had a good first period. Our penalty kill (0-for-2) let him down to be honest with you."

Draisaitl made it 2-1 at 7:39 of the second off a turnover created by Zack Kassian in the offensive zone.
Brassard made it 3-1 at 6:49 of the third period after his centering pass went in off Karlsson's skate. The forward was making his Oilers debut after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.
"Acquiring some people at the deadline makes us a deeper team, and I think when you're making a playoff push, having people that can come into the lineup and play important minutes for our group is beneficial going into the most important games of the year," Smith said. "Something that every team looks for is depth, and we acquired some guys that have been in the playoffs before and play important roles on teams, and obviously getting some guys back healthy just solidifies our lineup."
Hertl made it 3-2 at 7:18 when he scored from the slot, but Draisaitl pushed it to 4-2 at 13:55 by redirecting a pass from McDavid on the power play.
Evander Kane scored an empty-net goal at 17:18 for the 5-2 final.
NOTES: Sharks forward Logan Couture left the game in the second period after being hit with a shot. "Just upper-body. I think he wasn't fit to come back," Boughner said. "He'll be assessed tomorrow. Hopefully, it's just a day-to-day thing. Just got that shot up high." ... Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a game-high seven shots on goal in 17:32 of ice time after missing 12 games with an upper-body injury. … Defenseman Brett Kulak had one shot on goal and two hits in 18:27 of ice time in his Oilers debut after being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. … Draisaitl extended his point streak to seven games (six goals, five assists) and has scored 90 points (44 goals, 46 assists) in 65 games this season. … McDavid extended his point streak to eight games (six goals, 10 assists) and has scored an NHL-leading 95 points (35 goals, 60 assists) in 64 games this season. … Yamamoto has scored 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Hertl has scored 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past eight games.