GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Sharks 0

SAN JOSE, CA – Right where they left off.

The Edmonton Oilers scored four goals in the first period and received 25 saves from Stuart Skinner on Thursday night to earn their third straight victory with a 5-0 shutout win over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in their first game following the holiday break.

Skinner secured his 13th victory of the season and the second shutout of his career against the Sharks after blanking San Jose with 20 saves for his first-ever NHL clean sheet back on Feb. 14, 2022. The 25-year-old netminder improves to 4-1-0 with two shutouts, a 1.20 goals-against average and a .955 save percentage over five career starts against Edmonton's Pacific Division rival.

Ryan McLeod registered his third straight multi-goal game with a goal and assist, including the opening goal exactly one minute into regulation, while Zach Hyman reached 20 goals on the season during a four-goal first period from the Blue & Orange where Leon Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard also added goals.

"I think it was big for us to come out of the gate after a break and get a big win," said defenceman Darnell Nurse, who recorded an assist. "I thought we came out in the first period and played really well, and then Stu made some huge saves down the stretch for us to keep the game where it was."

The victory lifts Edmonton's record over the .500 mark (16-15-1) heading into Saturday's clash with the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.

FIRST PERIOD

Fresh off their five-day break, the Blue & Orange wasted no time getting right back to where they left off in Madison Square Garden last week by scoring four goals in the opening 20 minutes inside the Shark Tank.

"It puts some momentum in our favour and it starts the game with a lot of people feeling confident out there on the ice," Nurse said. "I think that's a big start. Whenever you're having a big start, especially coming off a break, it's easy to wade yourself into the game and not get on to the start that you want. But for us to be able to come out here and put up four in the first period, I think it really set the tone for the rest of the game."

Ryan McLeod had recorded multiple points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career heading into Thursday and got the Oilers on the board early by beating Sharks netminder Magnus Chrona exactly one minute into his NHL debut with his fourth goal on his last four shots on a wrist shot from the left circle.

The Mississauga, Ont. product has been red hot over Edmonton's last three victories alongside Leon Draisaitl and Warren Foegele on the third line that's produced six even-strength goals over their three-game win streak.

"They're feeling it right now," Skinner said of the line. "They're buzzing. They're moving around, making some good plays, getting shots off, going hard to the net, so it's all well-earned."

Zach Hyman extended the margin between himself and the rest of his teammates in the club's goal totals when he reached the 20-goal plateau in his 31st game this season, putting him in a tie for fifth in the NHL's goal-scoring race alongside Boston's David Pastrnak.

The 31-year-old broke towards the far post in a two-on-two with McDavid and chopped the captain's back-door pass over the left shoulder of Chrona at 10:15 of the first period to extend Edmonton's advantage to 2-0 – increasing his lead on Leon Draisaitl in the goal-scoring department to six goals for the time being.

Hyman leads the NHL with 18 goals from high-danger areas of ice and is currently on pace for 50 goals this year as he looks to beat his career-best of 36 goals in 2022-23 on the top line with McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

"He goes hard to the net and that line spends a lot of time in the offensive zone just with a possession they have," Knoblauch said of Hyman. "But you need somebody going to the net and he does a good job. You saw his goal from just being available and getting a nice touch on the puck. There's a lot of things I like about his game."

Evan Bouchard made it 3-0 on his ninth goal of the season which came off a one-timer at the top of San Jose's zone with James Hamblin setting the terrific screen in front to allow his defenceman to pick the low corner just 4:40 after Hyman had the Oilers ahead by two goals.

Connor Brown picked up the secondary assist for his second point in an Oilers uniform, while Mattias Ekholm's primary helper on the play stretched the Swede's point streak to four games (5A).

Before the first period was done, Edmonton would push their lead to 4-0 with a hard-working forecheck from McLeod and Foegele that led to Draisaitl having the opportunity in front to put away his 15th goal of the season before the first intermission and spell an end to Chrona's NHL debut after allowing his fourth goal on 11 shots.

With an assist, McLeod now has three straight multi-point games for the first time in his career and is showing no signs of slowing down.

SECOND PERIOD

On a double deflection midway through the middle frame, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stood to benefit from the fortunate bounce that built the Blue & Orange's lead to five goals through 40 minutes.

San Jose's netminder swap of Chrona in favour of Kaapo Kahkonen in the intermission couldn't prevent Edmonton from stretching their advantage to 5-0 when Cody Ceci sent a shot on goal that struck Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the slot before it found its way over the line off the skate of Sharks defenceman Mario Ferraro.

The Oilers had one opportunity with the man advantage in the second period when Ferraro sent the puck over the glass for Delay of Game and failed to record a power-play goal on Thursday for the fifth straight game (0-for-11).

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers defended their lead and Skinner's shutout over the final frame to claim their third straight victory, but the netminder applauded the team in front of him for their four-goal offensive support in the opening 20 minutes.

"It was huge. It gave me a lot of confidence," Skinner said of the start. "It's always nice kind of getting that early lead. I think we were rolling around for five minutes straight in their end and that's a huge credit to the guys for being ready off the bat. It can be hard, especially coming off Christmas break."

The Oilers were beaten 3-2 by the Sharks in this very same building back on Nov. 9, but they were able to exceed that goal total in less than three-quarters of a period on Thursday to help rectify some of the lingering disappointments from that defeat.

"You knew they were going to come out hard," Skinner said. "They also had a game yesterday, so they were able to get a couple of things out of the way early on right after the Christmas break. You know these guys know to score goals. You can see that they lose games every once in a while, but for the most part, they're always getting their goals.

"It's the NHL. Every team's good. Every team knows how to score. Every player knows how to make plays, so it's always important to be ready."

PARTING WORDS

Knoblauch on the Oilers getting back to a .500 win percentage:

"I think we've got a lot of things to work on. We are getting better. If we're not getting better each day, teams are going to be passing us and if we're not in a position to do that, we need to be getting better because we have to. We've got a lot of teams to pass if we're going to make playoffs, so I like where we're going but there's still a lot of work to do."

Skinner on the growth of the group since their 3-2 defeat to the Sharks back on Nov. 9:

"I think it's a lot of resiliency from our group. I think you can see that there are highs and lows in a season, and I think we're doing a really good job at trying to stay even keel and just work our way up. We know the position we're in and we also know our goal just like every other team in the league, so it's going to be important for us to keep going here."