Corey Perry opened the scoring and Leon Draisaitl and Viktor Arvidsson clinched it in the shootout in a 3-2 Oilers win.
Corey Perry opened the scoring and Leon Draisaitl and Viktor Arvidsson clinched it in the shootout in a 3-2 Oilers win.
It must have been a 2010s night at Rogers Place on Monday because Corey Perry was partying like it was 2011.
Perry woke Edmonton Oilers' fans up after a sleepy first two periods when he scored the team's first goal four minutes into the third, tying the game at one. That seemed to wake up both teams as well. Ben Gleason gave the Oilers the lead on the powerplay, only for Nate Smith to tie things up just 20 seconds later.
That score stood through the rest of the third period and overtime, despite some golden chances for both teams in OT. The Oilers took the 3-2 win in the shootout, courtesy of a bold slapshot from Leon Draisaitl and a nifty move from Viktor Arvidsson.
The new second line of Draisaitl, Arvidsson, and Jeff Skinner created some chances but weren't quite in sync, with a few Draisaitl passes seeming to take his new wingers by surprise. The potential is obvious, though, and once they build some chemistry, they'll be tough to beat.
Stuart Skinner was nails in his second game of the pre-season, making 21 saves on 23 shots. He was active early as the Oilers had trouble clearing Canucks from the net front and made a huge save on Daniel Sprong late in overtime.
One negative was Josh Brown. Playing next to Brett Kulak as his presumptive partner for the regular season, Brown took two poorly-timed penalties and had trouble clearing the crease in front of Stuart Skinner. He'll have to improve over the last two pre-season games to keep his spot next to Kulak.
Oilers Player of the Game: Corey Perry
Perry was in vintage form all night, with an ultra-rare breakaway and a few more chances in front before he finally found twine in the third, weaving through the Canucks' defense to tuck one past Kevin Lankinen.
Perry also got involved physically, taking on two Canucks after Pius Suter got tangled up with Connor McDavid in the third period.
The 39-year-old Perry played alongside his frequent linemate Vasily Podkozlin on a line with McDavid. Perry and Podkolzin are expected to flank one of Derek Ryan or Noah Philp on the team's fourth line in the regular season.
Oilers Play of the Game
Though Draisaitl and Arvidsson's shootout goals won the game, they wouldn't have gotten there without Perry's opening goal, which turned a complete snoozefest into a fun period or so of exhibition hockey.
The Oilers will play their final two pre-season games on the road. They will visit Seattle on Wednesday and then travel to Vancouver for the pre-season finale on Friday.
Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss news, interviews, or any other updates on the Oilers.
Related: Dylan Holloway Continues Dominant Pre-Season With New Team
Related: Mike Hoffman Released From Tryout With Oilers