GAME RECAP: Devils 4, Oilers 3

EDMONTON, AB - The New Jersey Devils battled back with a late come-from-behind victory to down the Oilers 4-3 at Rogers Place on Thursday night.
The Oilers looked to be well on their way to their sixth-straight victory, but a seven-second stretch late in the third period would be their undoing.
Up 3-2 with 3:15 remaining, the Devils tied the game courtesy of a slippery wrister by Ryan Graves, who made a power move to the slot before ricocheting a shot off a defenceman and towards the Oilers goal. Despite a stellar performance by starter Stuart Skinner who up until that point had turned aside 39-of-41 shots, the puck found it's way through his five-hole to tie the game.
The Devils continued their attack right off the ensuing faceoff, with Jesper Bratt blowing by the Oilers defence and firing a snapshot off the post and in behind Skinner just seven seconds after the tying goal for the game winner.
Edmonton saw goals by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Derek Ryan, who picked up his second goal in as many games by showing off his hand-eye coordination in front of the Devils net with a tip-in off a Tyson Barrie wrister that beat New Jersey starter Mackenzie Blackwood, who left the game due to injury in the second period.
The Oilers will wrap up their three-game homestand with a Saturday matinee against the Dallas Stars before heading out for a long four-game Eastern Conference road trip until mid-November.

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FIRST BLOOD

The Oilers Captain simply can't be stopped right now.
Connor McDavid continued his torrid goalscoring ways to start the year with a little help from Zach Hyman. After a neutral zone turnover sent the Oilers racing the other way on a two-on-one, Hyman was able to slip a feed past a New Jersey defenceman and onto the stick of the NHL's leading scorer.
McDavid made zero mistake, popping the puck past Blackwood for his 12th goal in the season's first 11 games -- a total that was as much or more than all but 17 NHL skaters had points entering the night.
McDavid ended the evening with his sixth multi-point game of the season, picking up a power-play assist on Draisaitl's goal.

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVILS?

The Devils saw a change in goaltending midway through the game due to unfortunate circumstances.
With the Oilers on a powerplay, Blackwood stretched out his left pad to make a save which resulted in an injury that forced him to leave the contest.
An ice-cold Vitek Vanecek would be forced to enter the game and face an Oilers powerplay that was operating at an NHL second-best 33.3 per cent. The ensuing results were exactly as you would imagine, with Leon Draisaitl finding the back of the net for his sixth of the season.
The goal was a trademark Draisaitl power-play tally, with the German forward receiving a feed from McDavid and sliding a shot along the ice from the right circle that pinged off the post and in behind Vanecek.
Blackwood had turned aside 16-of-18 shots prior to having leave the game. The injury came just as the Oilers had shifted the momentum of the game in the second period, and it was a momentum they would not relinquish until the buzzer rang out to end the middle frame.
Vanecek ended up settling into the game, stonewalling the Oilers for the remainder of the contest by turning aside 18 of the 19 shots mustered his way en route to the victory.

HE WOOD

Most of the Devils offence on the night came off the quick stick of Miles Wood.
The New Jersey winger's first goal came when he caught Dylan Holloway trying to be fancy across the redline, poking the puck off his stick to an on-rushing Nathan Bastian leading to a partial two-on-one. Bastian would sauce the feed to Wood, who hammered the knee-drop one timer through Stuart Skinner to tie the game at the 12:22 mark of the first.
The 27-year-old would find the back of the net again early in the third period.
With the Oilers up 3-1, Erik Haula won an offensive zone faceoff which landed on the stick of Wood. The puck wouldn't sit their long with the Devils forward quickly firing a shot from the right circle past Skinner for his second of the game and fourth of the year.
Woods' goals proved to be key for the Devils as they set the table for the Metropolitan team's late game comeback.

PARTING WORDS

Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on the New Jersey game winner:
"That's something that happens in the NHL lots. We didn't cover it the way we wanted to cover, it was a mistake and hockey is a game of mistakes. We ended up making a few mistakes with the puck tonight, and there were a couple of faceoffs that went in, and that was deciding factor in the game."
Woodcroft on not being able to close out the game:
"I thought that was a game played between two good hockey teams. Both teams had chances but for us being up 3-1 going into the third period, we would like to close it out with a little bit more authority. We had chances to improve our lead. It didn't go our way. So we're going to have to learn from some of the mistakes we made tonight."
Woodcroft on how his team played tonight:
"I thought we had some really good moments in the game. The second period was a well played period by us. We had chances to improve our goals for and converting some of the chances didn't go our way tonight with that regard, but I still think there are things that we have to clean up. We have to clean up just some of our puck decisions and then as I said, we gave up two faceoff goals. That can't happen and some learning moments for sure. We'll learn those lessons and bring them with us as we move forward here."

Stuart Skinner on the two late goals in the third period:
"Yeah, I mean, obviously it didn't feel great. Obviously they got that one that just snuck through, but it's still a tight game, and it's tough that right off the face off, they kind of got a nice chance and went post in. It was a good shot and obviously a tough way to lose."
Skinner on if the game winning goal caught him off guard:
"As a goalie you got to be able to shake off goals right away. So just being mentally prepared for the next play, it's always about the next play. He He made a nice shot."
Skinner on not letting results like tonight creep in:
"First of all, I still feel good. It's one game, it's one loss, we're still battling to get wins, and it's a long season. I know we got it in here, and the guys have been playing great as well. Yeah, it's been fun so far, and I know it's a tough loss, but it's all about how we come back next game."

Connor McDavid on the Devils game winning goal:
"It's a set play. Lots of teams run it. It's something that you always got to watch out for. Obviously they pulled it out at a good time and made us pay."
McDavid on if the Oilers played well enough to win:
To me, definitely feel like we should have one. Definitely feel like we created enough chances. We probably gave up too many chances, but I thought Stu gave us a great chance to win. You got a team on the ropes and we had a couple of looks there and you got to put them down. That's the way it goes."