GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Blues 1

ST. LOUIS, MO - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked the critical moment to score his 200th-career NHL goal, netting the game-winner with 6:16 to go in regulation of a 3-1 Oilers victory over the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Wednesday night.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner played exceptional with 37 saves in his second start of the season, while Jesse Puljujarvi recorded his first goal of the campaign to open the scoring in the first period. Zach Hyman put the game on ice with 27 seconds remaining, depositing the insurance goal into the empty net to secure the Oilers the victory in their first road game on the calendar.
"I just go in there with the same mindset and just try to do everything I can to get the win and give the guys a chance to win," Skinner said. "Tonight, we all gave each other a chance out there and I thought both teams just played really hard. It was a grinding of a game and it was awesome to be in there."
The Oilers head right to Chicago, where they'll wrap up back-to-back games and continue their three-game road trip at the United Center against the Blackhawks on Thursday night.

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FIRST BLOOD

The Oilers started on the front foot and got their deserved opening goal at the end of a fine forecheck from the Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod and Jesse Puljujarvi line and a great point shot from Darnell Nurse.
After Puljujarvi's cross-ice pass hit a Blues stick in the neutral zone and trickled into the offensive zone, Foegele wheeled through with great speed and picked up the puck before pushing it below the goal line.
Foegele then wrapped a pass from behind the net out to the point for Nurse, who let fly a wrist shot that was deflected by the passing-through Puljujarvi in the slot and past Binnington into the bottom-left corner for the opening goal just over six minutes into the hockey game.
The goal was Jesse's first point and first tally of the season, while putting the Finnish forward on 99 points for his career.

SECONDS FROM SAFE

The second period was where the Blues fought their way back after an opening frame owned by the Blue & Orange.
Edmonton wasn't void of chances in the middle frame, including a powerplay where Zach Hyman couldn't find a bounce past Binnington on two separate occasions, but the shots were one-sided at 20-6 in favour of the home side at the second intermission.
The Blues had their own chance with the man advantage in the final two minutes and left it late -- 4.4 seconds left to be exact -- for captain Ryan O'Reilly to bat a puck out of the air from the left of Skinner's net and put the tying goal in off the netminder's right pad.
St. Louis escaped with a goal, but Skinner was proud of the way he and his teammates held on despite the Blues pouring it on.
"I was just trying to enjoy myself and have some fun out there and do the best that I can do for the guys," he said. "The guys made some amazing blocks. Every single one of the D, all the forwards were coming back hard, it was awesome and lot of fun."

NUMBER 200 FOR NUGE

The 200th goal of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' incredible career came at a big moment. But for the Nuge, it was just another goal.
"To be honest, I didn't know that," Nugent-Hopkins said. "But obviously, we just stuck with it the whole game. They got that late one in the second on their powerplay and it was a hard-fought game the whole way through. Just happy to get the go-ahead goal there, and then we shut it down and got that cushion."
At the end of a shift of strong pressure, captain Connor McDavid came out from behind the St. Louis net delivered a seeing-eye, cross-crease pass onto the stick of Nugent-Hopkins at the left post, where the Nuge put it over Binnington's right pad and lifted the Oilers into a late 2-1 lead with his 200th career NHL goal that came with 6:16 on the clock in regulation.

"It's a big goal for Ryan. I think that line had numerous chances throughout the game on the powerplay and five-on-five," Woodcroft said. "Right before that, we had hemmed that group in for a while and we stuck with it. That's what I really enjoyed -- the fact that we stuck with it until they broke down.
"Where Ryan scored that goal I'm very proud of, because he went to a hard area to have success. For a young guy like that to have 200 goals in his NHL career, I think it's a credit to him, his longevity and his importance to our organization."

SKINNER SAVES THE DAY

Ryan McLeod and the Oilers have their goaltender to thank for a miraculous save that kept things even in the last half of the third period.
The centre lost an edge and coughed up the puck in the slot, leaving Blues forward Ivan Barbashev all the time in the world to choose how to attack the Oilers netminder one-on-one. Barbashev elected to shoot low blocker, but there was Skinner kicking out the right pad to send the chance away with a terrific save -- the most influential of his 37 saves on the night.
It was only Skinner's second start with one relief appearances sprinkled in, but the netminder has taken his opportunity to be the out-and-out backup netminder for the Oilers and ran with it by making 88 saves on 92 shots this year.

PARTING WORDS

Skinner on his 37 saves helping secure the Oilers their first road win of the year:
"I felt excited to play obviously being the first time I was able to play the Blues, so really exciting and a super cool moment. I thought the guys played a fantastic game. I thought we all played really well and we just worked for each other. I'm happy that we got the first road win."
Skinner on getting into a groove against St. Louis early:
"Yeah, for sure. I think after the first ten minutes, if you're making a couple of saves, you definitely feel good. Saying that, if that doesn't happen, you can still find your groove at any moment. So just trying to find that as quickly as you can is a good thing."

Coach Woodcroft comparing tonight's rematch to Edmonton's defeat at home to St. Louis on Saturday:
"You know what, I thought that game at Rogers Place was maybe a little bit tighter-checking than tonight was. Fewer chances. Tonight was a higher pace, and we skated at the level that we felt good about. That one in Rogers was decided in the first five minutes on a special team, but we felt good about a lot of things in that game. I think we've given up five goals in the last three games. We feel good about that. We got a great goaltending performance from Stuart Skinner, we found a way to stick with things in a tough building, and it's a chance for us to build on this as we head into Chicago tomorrow."
Nugent-Hopkins on the meaning behind his 200th NHL goal and the journey to this point:
"Obviously a lot of years. Some great times, but some tougher years to start. Obviously just to see where we're at now, how we played last year, and the tenacity and the will to win every night, we're starting to find it again and I think that's going to propel us forward here."
Nugent-Hopkins on Skinner's stellar play:
"Unbelievable. Both guys have been great for us when we've needed them, and Stu tonight in the second period made some massive saves to keep us going, keep us in it, and really without them they probably would've had a few more. Their goalie played well too and you need that kind of performance back there Just happy to be able to help them out a little bit