GAME STORY: Oilers 3, Senators 2

EDMONTON, AB - Leon Draisaitl's middle-frame marker held up as the winner as the Oilers edged the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Monday at Rogers Place to start their three-game series.

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FIRST BLOOD

The visiting Senators struck first just 56 seconds after the opening puck-drop when Thomas Chabot played the puck from the point to behind the net and Evgenii Dadonov scooped it up, curled around front, made a quick spin move and beat Mikko Koskinen with a tricky, low shot for his eighth goal of the season.

PLAY OF THE GAME

With the Oilers nearing the end of a power play, Koskinen channeled his tandem teammate Mike Smith by coming out of his net to play an Ottawa dump-in, finding Connor McDavid in the neutral zone, and the captain passed it up to Alex Chiasson, who bore down on a two-on-one with Darnell Nurse and called his own number for a short-side, top-shelf snipe for his fifth goal of the season. The 2-1 tally came with just five seconds to go in the man advantage.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Joey Daccord was under siege for multiple stretches during the game and ultimately surrendered three goals, but he did make several big saves including a great one on Chiasson just past the midway point of the opening frame. Kyle Turris made a perfect pass from along the wall to Chiasson cutting to the net on the left side, and the winger released a quick one-timer but Daccord made a slick cross-crease slide to keep the score 1-1 at the time for one of his 34 stops.

TURNING POINT

Dadonov's opening-minute goal put the Oilers behind the eight-ball early, but they stayed composed and earned the equalizer shortly thereafter from Kailer Yamamoto at the 7:03 mark of the first, swinging the momentum back in their favour. The winger made a perfect deflection on Nurse's point shot for his seventh of the season and second in as many games.

TOP PERFORMER

His name didn't show up in the goal column, but Turris had debatably his best performance in his 21 games since joining the Oilers, setting up Draisaitl's game-winning goal, nearly setting up Chiasson for a goal and making several other strong plays in his 10:16 of ice time on the night. The veteran forward was also effective in the faceoff circle, winning two of the three draws he took.

FACT CHECK

With his setup on Chiasson's goal, McDavid set a new career-best mark for the fewest number of games required to collect 30 assists in a single season at 27, besting the mark he set in 2019-20 when he needed 28 games. Only one active player, Sidney Crosby, has reached 30 assists faster than McDavid, hitting the mark in 26 games during the 2012-13 season.

NEXT UP

These two teams are just getting started this week as the squad from Canada's captal city will stay in Alberta's provincial capital for two more games on Wednesday and Friday before the Oilers will head to Vancouver to play the Canucks on Saturday.

PARTING WORDS

"I haven't been playing well, so I've got to turn things around," Turris said of his performances this season. "I feel like I've been having better jump lately and I thought I played a bit better tonight."
"It's been a work in progress here over the last three years," Chiasson said of the Oilers collective growth since his arrival in 2018-19. "We've added some key pieces to our group and we're learning on a nightly basis how to play tight games, which is good to see. Our group stays in the fight and finds ways to win games when we may not be at our best right off the bat. It's good to see our group maturing and finding ways to win games that way."
"They're a young team that works hard and you've got to put the work in or you're going to be behind," Head Coach Dave Tippett said of Ottawa. "We gave up a tough one early but our guys stuck with it. I thought we played pretty solid for the most part throughout the whole game."