THREE THINGS: 10,000th goal highlights win over Sharks

EDMONTON, AB -The Oilers closed out a 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night, getting multi-point outings from a handful of contributors. Below are three things to take from the game, but honourable mention goes to the all-in-the-name-of-fun beard pull by Pat Maroon.

1. MR. 10,000

The Oilers came into the game needing two goals to get to 10,000 in franchise history, and they got two in the opening frame.
After Mark Letestu tied the game at 1-1 with a one-timer blast, assisted by Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Strome got the big one.

Strome potted another nice feed from Draisaitl, into a wide-open net, to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 18:51 of the first. Strome's goal will go down as the 10,000th marker in team history - a number which includes regular season goals in regulation, overtime and shootout game-winners.
"I had no idea," said Strome. "It's a cool accomplishment, a lot of great players and obviously a very rich history but I was the beneficiary of a hell of a pass on that one."

2. THE NUGE IS HUGE

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins continues to put the biscuit in the basket to start this season, and is now 10 goals shy of a career high, just 34 games in. He scored his team-high 14th goal of the season at the 6:36 mark of the second period, having a pass to the front of the net tipped in by Joe Pavelski.

"It was definitely a nice bounce tonight," Nugent-Hopkins said after the game. "I think either way Drake (who was crashing the net) was going to get that for sure. You want to be able to produce and help out offensively."
Nugent-Hopkins is on a .41 goals per game pace, the highest of his career. His next best pace was .32 in 2014-15, when the centre scored 24 times in 76 games. He's on pace for 30-plus goals this season.

3. DIVISION DOMINANCE

So far this season, Edmonton has really flexed their muscles against the Pacific Division. It's a small sample size, as the Oilers have only played six games against divisional foes, but their record speaks for itself. They are 5-1 against the Pacific Division in 2017-18.
Their lone loss against a divisional opponent came in the second game of the season - a 3-2 setback in Vancouver on October 7.

The Oilers have two wins against Calgary, one against Las Vegas, one against Arizona, and now one against San Jose. Their next Pacific matchup comes in the first game of the new year versus the Los Angeles Kings on January 2.