Draisaitl scores shootout winner as Oilers clip Canucks 3-2 – Edmonton

It may have been a win, but the Edmonton Oilers feel like they’re still a work in progress.

Leon Draisaitl scored the shootout winner on a slapshot as the Oilers won their second straight preseason game, beating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Monday.

Corey Perry and Ben Gleason also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 3-3 in NHL practice action.

“We just wanted to raise our level of competition a little bit,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who registered a pair of assists on the night. “I think everyone has a different level they can reach. Hopefully we’ll get there this week.

“We haven’t played much with our group. To get some rhythm and camaraderie, all those things are important.

Much of the focus was on getting the first look at the new potentially powerful second line from Draisaitl, Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner.

“They’re just getting used to each other now,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They had some good chances, probably not as many as you would expect in a game like tonight. But it was a good first step.”

Arshdeep Bains and Nate Smith responded for the Canucks (2-2-1), who have lost three in a row.

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“It’s not about the win or the loss, the group really did a great job,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet, whose team dressed the less experienced lineup. “I’m really proud of the way they played. I just love the way they stuck with it. That’s a good hockey club there and I think we did a good job.”

There was no scoring in a rather relaxed first period, with Edmonton firing eight shots on Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen and Vancouver responding with seven on Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner.

Vancouver broke the deadlock six minutes into the second period on the power play when Kiefer Sherwood made a nice pass from the side of the net to Bains, who unleashed a bullet before Skinner could get over.

Edmonton almost responded a few minutes later when Perry was sent alone, but he couldn’t get past Lankinen.

The Canucks led 16-15 on the shot clock through 40 minutes.

The Oilers tied the game four minutes into the third period when Perry swept in front of the net, made a nice play and got the puck behind Lankinen this time.

Edmonton took the lead on the power play midway through the third when McDavid sent it back to Gleason, who sent a hard wrist shot into the net as Arvidsson set a screen.

However, Vancouver answered back just 19 seconds later when Smith deftly redirected a Kirill Kudryavtsev shot through Skinner’s legs, ultimately sending the game to overtime.

Vancouver had a wide open goal to shoot across late in overtime, but Draisaitl lifted Daniel Sprong’s stick at the last second.

NOTES

It was the first meeting between the two teams since the Oilers defeated the Canucks 3-2 in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series in May…Edmonton released veteran forward Mike Hoffman from PTO on Monday, and the Canucks did the same with PTO invite Sammy Blais … The Oilers have 36 players (five injured) left in camp and hope to get that down to 27 players before the team’s final two games. Defenseman Darnell Nurse is expected to be back for one of the two final tilts, and backup goalie Calvin Pickard is expected to return to the ice in a few days after taking a hit to the head against Seattle on Saturday… Vancouver star JT Miller has skated all camp but has yet to prepare for a game, while defenseman Quinn Hughes has played just one.

NEXT

Canucks: Host the Oilers on Friday.

Oilers: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.

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