The Edmonton Oilers finally registered a victory in November with a convincing 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Friday night.
Winger Ryan Smyth led the Oilers' attack with two goals, extending his point streak to six games.
Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire directs the puck out of the reach of Edmonton Oilers forward Raffi Torres Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.
(Jay LaPrete/Associated Press)
"We played pretty sound hockey," said Smyth, who has 12 goals in 20 games against Columbus. "Hopefully we can continue some good things out of this."
The Oilers (8-7-1) halted a four-game losing slide and won for the first time since a 4-0 shutout victory over the Washington Capitals on Oct. 28.
The victory was only Edmonton's second road win of the season and snaps an offensive drought that's primarily responsible for the team's struggles away from Rexall Place.
Prior to Friday's contest against the Blue Jackets, Edmonton had posted a dismal 0-3-1 record in its last four road games, while being outscored 18-6 during that stretch.
Edmonton, in the midst of a five-game road trip, was also coming off a 3-0 loss in Detroit on Wednesday when the Oilers were held to a season-low 16 shots on net. In that game, Edmonton didn't even register a shot on net until the second period.
But the team rebounded with a solid effort against Columbus, scoring four times on 29 shots.
"It's as good of a game, technically, as we've had all year," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "We were in the right spot, playing in units of five."
Following a first period which produced no goals despite 17 shots, the Oilers opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the second on Ales Hemsky's fourth goal of the season.
Hemsky took a cross-ice feed from centre Toby Peterson and fired a wrist shot to the far side of Columbus goaltender Pascal Leclaire.
Edmonton capitalized on a Columbus turnover to go two goals up just 1:38 later. Joffrey Lupul picked up the loose puck and weaved through traffic before letting go a drive that squeezed through the right arm of Leclaire.
Rebound tapped in
Smyth gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead at 12:40 of the second with his ninth goal of the year. Defenceman Steve Staois's point shot was stopped by Leclaire, but Smyth was stationed in front of the net to tap in the rebound.
"We got the puck to the net, which we talked about the last couple weeks," Smyth said. "We capitalized around the net area and got the bounces."
The Blue Jackets cut Edmonton's lead to 3-1 less than a minute later on the power play. Rick Nash dropped a pass to Anson Carter, who stepped into a slapshot that sailed over the left shoulder of Edmonton goaltender Dwayne Roloson.
The Oilers regained their three-goal lead on Smyth's second goal of the game at 2:07 of the third period. After a Columbus turnover in the neutral zone sent the Oilers in on a 2-on-1, Smyth one-timed a pass from Brad Winchester that beat a helpless Leclaire.
"Overall it looked like our guys were tired the second half of the game," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said.
Roloson (7-6-1) snapped a four-game losing streak of his own, making 26 saves, including 12 in a busy second period.
Edmonton visits the St. Louis Blues on Sunday afternoon.
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