GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Hurricanes 1

EDMONTON, AB – 'Category 5' wins in a row.

Winger Zach Hyman recorded a hat trick, while Mattias Janmark and Connor McDavid each recorded a trio of assists on Wednesday as the Edmonton Oilers extended their win streak to five with a 6-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at Rogers Place.

Hyman notched his second hat trick of the season in the win to push his team-leading goal total to 15 through 23 games, with two of his tallies coming in a four-goal first period for the Blue & Orange where Ryan McLeod and Mattias Ekholm found the back of the net in the opening minute of regulation.

Warren Foegele recorded a goal and assist, and netminder Stuart Skinner remained steady over the full 60 minutes to claim his ninth win of the campaign after making 38 saves on 39 shots.

"I thought it was a real mature effort tonight," Foegele said. "We potted two goals quickly and then we stayed with it. We weren't cheating for offence after that lead, and just solid checking by the whole team. To win in this League, you've got to hold leads and it was nice that we did that."

The Oilers continue their lengthy six-game homestand when they welcome the Minnesota Wild to Rogers Place on Friday night.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers remembered all too well what happened in the first period of the last meeting between these two sides at PNC Arena two weeks ago.

Coming off a five-day extended break, their opening 20 minutes on Wednesday set the tone for what was a terrific return to action and what they hope will be a successful six-game homestand with four wins in a row still under their belt from last Thursday's 3-1 win over the Jets in Winnipeg.

The Oilers were peppered for four goals in the first period by Carolina back on Nov. 22 and Wednesday was a complete reverse of the script after they got the jump on the visiting Hurricanes with two goals in the opening minute of regulation.

"The start helps a lot," Hyman said. "Guys were ready to go out there and play even after a little bit of a layoff, so just a huge start and then obviously we were able to settle in. I thought Stu made some big saves and I thought it was a great team win."

Warren Foegele provided the ferocious forecheck that led to Ryan McLeod opening the scoring just 28 seconds into regulation.

The winger won the puck off defenceman Jaccob Slavin behind the Canes' net before putting it onto the tape of his centre for a quick one-timer outside the blue paint that beat netminder Pyotr Kochetkov five-hole for the early 1-0 lead.

"Foegs made a great play that first shift hard on the forecheck and got it to Clouder," Janmark said. "That kind of set the tone and then, our first line went out and did their thing and we were rolling from there."

McLeod has now registered goals in back-to-back games after being held without a goal over the first 21 games of the year.

"For our line, we knew to have a good start," Foegele said. "I find when we do start [well], we usually are always in the o-zone or something like that, so it was kind of nice to keep that going."

The opening minute hadn't even passed before the Hurricanes found themselves down by a pair of goals after Mattias Ekholm crept down from the blueline to the back door, where the Swedish defenceman put away McDavid's cross-crease pass just 13 seconds after McLeod provided the Oilers with their early lead.

Hyman has put together a terrific first quarter of the season to lead the Oilers in goals through 23 games, and the winger was back at it by putting two goals past the Hurricanes before the break in two very different but equally impressive ways.

The winger showed his drive and determination down low to put Edmonton ahead 3-0 by protecting the puck and beating Carolina rearguard Brett Pesce along the goal line before bursting out front and wrapping his 13th goal of the season under the left pad of Kochetkov, whose night came to an end after conceding three goals on six shots.

"Just take it to the net, right?" Hyman said. "I think that's part of my game and building off that and trying to not just take it in, but try to score and make plays. I think I've been growing that part of my game since I got in the League."

The goaltending change wouldn't slow down the pace of the Blue & Orange, who padded their lead with Hyman's team-leading 14th of the campaign off a one-timer past Antti Raanta that came at the end of a great exchange with McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins when entering the zone with just under six minutes left in the opening period.

Edmonton's penalty kill turned away Carolina's first look with the man advantage late in the period, while Stuart Skinner turned aside all 16 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

Carolina was certainly feeling the impact of 'Hurricane Warren' and his linemates on the third line all night on Wednesday.

After Foegele did the dirty work setting up McLeod for the game's opening goal in the first minute, it was Janmark's block in the defensive zone that sent the winger on his way to recording his fourth goal and 10th point of the season.

"Super smart player. I don't think he gets enough credit here," Foegele said of his linemate Janmark. "His details are sharp, so you definitely notice that. All the guys know that, but when you play with him, you notice those details and there was a massive block there. It's a 4-0 game and those are details that I'm talking about help you win games, so it was a huge play by him."

The Swede's block allowed Foegele to swing through and pick up the puck near the top of Edmonton's defensive zone before blowing by Jesperi Kotkaniemi and pushing a backhand under the right pad of Raanta for a five-goal Oilers lead at 17:11 of the second period.

"I've had a couple this year, so it was nice to get one and hopefully, more to come," Foegele said.

Janmark recorded his first career three-assist game on Wednesday in what was his 499th career NHL game.

"I think that's kind of the player I am, and when you go through stretches where you don't score, that's where you tell yourself that you got to do the little things and then, the points even out at the end of the year," Janmark said. "And I think that's kind of what you saw tonight. Your line right from the get go really set the tone from opening shift from carried it through this game."

THIRD PERIOD

The hats rained down onto the ice at Rogers Place as the final curtain call on Edmonton's fifth straight win.

Hyman is putting himself firmly into the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy with 15 goals in 23 games this season after recording his second hat-trick of the campaign to make it 6-1 off a fantastic keep-in at the blueline by McDavid, who notched three assists in the victory.

"I think just for me, I try to get better every year. It's pretty simple, but just try to work on things that need to work on," Hyman said. "I play with pretty good players. I mean, Connor set me up pretty nicely for the third one and gave me a nice play for the second one, so you've got to have of great linemates to be able to produce and I'm fortunate to play with two of the best."

After Canes' captain Jordan Staal scored a consolation goal, the Oilers got it back 2:20 later when McDavid stripped Michael Bunting of the puck, dangled around Brent Burns in between the circles and passed off to Hyman to one-time his hat-trick tally beyond Raanta to restore the five-goal lead.

It's already Hyman's second three-goal night of the season as he continues to lead the Blue & Orange by example, both in hard work and red-hot offence.

PARTING WORDS

Janmark on Edmonton's improved play since playing and losing to Carolina two weeks ago:

"I think we talked after that game: 'We need to start playing the game the right way.' We got punished a lot back then and now we're kind of playing more the right way and good things are happening for us and we're limiting the goals against. So for sure, we're in a different spot, but it's not going to be easy going forward. We got to stick to the details like I said and play the same way."

Hyman on the biggest improvements leading to Edmonton's turnaround & five-game win streak:

"I think just a commitment to limiting turnovers and errors. We talk about mental mistakes and those are always going to be in the game. If you're trying to make plays out there, errors happen, but I think limiting them and if there are 50... I think understanding when to take risks, we've limited risk in our game.

"I think our line rushes against have been way better. That was something that plagued us and that has to do with turnovers a little bit, but also a commitment to tracking back with our forwards and a commitment to holding lines with our D. And then, I think Stu has really stepped up and really taken a hold of the net and just played phenomenal. That's really what it is, so it's great for our team to have him playing like that."

Coach Knoblauch on the Oilers using segments of games to climb the standings:

"Our focus was to break it down into eight-game segments. We don't want to look long-term because there are so many unknowns, uncontrollables, and we just want to control what we can. We can't think about Game 82. We have to think about what's coming up next or even a short term, and we started the series, our eight-game segment, in Washington and we just broke it down and we talked to the team about what we need to do to make playoffs. 95 points is kind of that mark, and we figured if we won so many games in these eight-game segments, we're going to be really close. So we're just focused on breaking the season into those little chunks or segments and we'll see what happens from there."