Leon Draisaitl scored twice and the Edmonton Oilers beat the defending champion St. Louis Blues 4-2
EDMONTON, Alberta —
Leon Draisaitl scored twice and the Edmonton Oilers beat the defending champion St. Louis Blues 4-2 Friday night.
Caleb Jones and Josh Archibald also scored to help the Oilers improve to 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. Mikko Koskinen stopped 30 shots.
David Perron and Robert Thomas had goals for the Blues, who have lost four of their last five. Jake Allen finished with 31 saves.
Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead at 4:13 of the third period as Kailer Yamamoto feathered a pass through to him. Draisaitl beat Allen glove side for his second of the game and 29th of the season.
St. Louis had a great opportunity with a late third period power play and pulled Allen for the extra attacker, but Archibald picked off the puck and danced his way to open ice to score a short-handed empty-netter with 1:41 left to seal the win.
Edmonton grabbed the early lead as Draisaitl opened the scoring 5:31 into the first on a slap shot past Allen. It extended his point streak to 10 games.
Jones made it 2-0 just 17 seconds later as his long shot trickled through Allen, giving the young defenseman his second career NHL goal
St. Louis only had three shots on Koskinen in a first period that also saw Edmonton hit two posts.
Perron scored from his knees on a backhand rebound just under 11 minutes into the second for his 23rd goal of the season to pull the Blues to 2-1.
St. Louis tied it early in the third as Tyler Bozak pounced on a bouncing puck during a scramble in front of the Edmonton net and fed it across to Thomas for his ninth at 2:12.
Draisaitl put the Oilers ahead for good just over two minutes later.
NOTES: It was the third and final meeting between the two teams this season, with the Blues winning both previous encounters by 5-2 and 2-1 scores. … Blues F Alexander Steen played in his 999th NHL game. … Edmonton F James Neal was a late scratch with a foot injury, with Archibald taking his place on McDavid’s line.
UP NEXT
Blues: At Winnipeg on Saturday night.
Oilers: At Calgary on Saturday night.
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