GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Lightning 1

EDMONTON, AB - It was an electric evening at Rogers Place with the two-time Stanley Cup champions in town, and the Edmonton Oilers captain was the one to provide the spark needed to set off a terrific Oilers victory on Saturday night.
Connor McDavid had two goals to record his 30th multi-point game of the season and Leon Draisaitl posted a goal and assist for the Oilers, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Hockey Night in Canada to jump the Vegas Golden Knights into third place in the Pacific Division with two valuable points.
Mikko Koskinen put in a fantastic 31-save performance to improve to 9-1-2 in his last 12 starts and win his fourth consecutive game on home ice. Tyson Barrie posted two assists in his return from a three-game absence and help the Oilers win back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 19.

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FIRST BLOOD

It's been a while since we've been treated to a marauding McDavid goal at Rogers Place.
The Captain picked up a drop pass from Yamamoto in the neutral zone and found himself 1-on-1 with Victor Hedman, who was forced to pivot at the blueline after gauging McDavid's speed as he streaked into the Lightning zone. McDavid burned the former Norris and Conn Smythe Trophy winner wide before cutting across Lighting netminder Brian Elliott and sliding his 31st goal of the season inside the far post midway through the opening frame. Barrie recorded the secondary helper for the first of two assists in the defenceman's return from a three-game absence.

PLAY OF THE GAME

The Captain was danglin', but he was also snipin' on Saturday night. McDavid had the puck as he entered the left circle on the Oilers fifth powerplay of the evening before he picked his spot and beat Elliott clean top-left corner to double Edmonton's lead with 44.1 seconds remaining in the middle frame. The Oilers man advantage went 1-for-7 in the victory.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Koskinen's final significant action of the evening might've been his best of the night when the Finn was forced into a quick left-pad stop with Tampa Bay's net empty after the puck took a wicked deflection and nearly snuck over the line at the back post. Koskinen is now 8-1-2 in his last 11 starts after making 31 stops to secure his 21st victory of the season and fourth consecutive win at Rogers Place.

TURNING POINT

The Oilers were simply the forward force of Saturday night's hockey game from puck drop, with McDavid's opening goal midway through the first period setting the tone for what was a terrific 60-minute performance from the Oilers on home ice against the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champs. Edmonton's penalty kill came up with a critical stop when it needed to on a 5-on-3 midway through the third period after Zach Bogosian had reduced the Oilers lead to 2-1. The penalty kill turned in a perfect 4-for-4 evening.

TOP PERFORMER

McDavid was lightning on skates all night against the Lightning, generating goals with his incredible speed and shooting while picking up his 30th multi-point game of the season to lead the NHL in that department. The Captain improves his season total to 83 points (32G, 51A) in 57 games.

PARTING WORDS

McDavid on all the elements of their game combining in a great team win over Tampa Bay:
"I liked a lot of things about our game. Our powerplay still could've been better I thought, but we found a way to get a big goal there. Obviously, our PK stepped up. That 5-on-3 was serious with Leo and Nursey blocking those shots, Dunk doing a great job, and Mikko doing his thing. I thought it was a well-rounded win.
Draisaitl on evaluating the victory and what the Oilers did right tonight:
"Like Connor said, I think it was just an all-around effort. Our PK was really good, but like he said, I think our powerplay could've been sharper, but we did score a big goal to make it 2-0 at the end of the second there. You've got to find the right times to score sometimes too, so we did that. At 5-on-5, I thought we were really solid."

Draisaitl on playing well against tough opposition over the last three weeks and how close the team is to the elite of the NHL:
"Those are the best teams in the league, right? We've had a lot of them against us in the last couple of weeks and played well every game. Obviously we're hurting a little bit right now. It's going to help us a lot when those tops guys are coming back, but all in all, I think we're finding our gear here a little bit and taking steps in the right direction."
Coach Woodcroft on developing reliability in his team when it comes to the game plan:
"Yeah, and I wouldn't use the word 'formulaic' or 'recipe', but we have a way we want to play the game. It's the right way of playing hockey, which is limiting the chances that you're giving up and creating more than the other team. We had 49 shots on net tonight, that's a real positive sign offensively and hit numerous posts and crossbars. But we headed into that third period against the two-time Stanley Cup champions and I thought we played a really mature third period. It didn't go exactly according to script, there were some high-drama moments, but we found a way to get the win."

Woodcroft on a great individual performance from McDavid tonight driving play and scoring twice:
"I think he's driven to win; driven to lead this team forward to continually push the needle to get this team to where it needs to get to. I think he led by example tonight. He was extremely dangerous with the puck on his stick. I've enjoyed his defensive details over the last while, and he scored the first two goals on difference-making plays. They were fantastic goals, and I'd also point out that I thought Leon Draisaitl had a really good game as well. He helped us kill off that 5-on-3 penalty kill and then the individual effort on the third-period goal was just phenomenal."