EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Miles Wood had two goals and an assist as the New Jersey Devils rallied to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 Thursday night for their fifth straight win.
Ryan Graves and Jesper Bratt also scored for the Devils. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 16 of the 18 shots he faced before exiting in the second period with an apparent injury. Vitek Vanecek came on and finished with 18 saves.
“That was a huge win for us. They were 7-3 just like us heading into this game. They’re a great team and to come back like that in the third period was a great sign,” Wood said. “It just showed a huge sign of strength by all the guys on the team.”
Connor McDavid, Derek Ryan and Leon Draisaitl scored for Edmonton, which had won five straight. Stuart Skinner made 39 saves.
“I definitely feel we should have won,” McDavid said. “I definitely feel like we created enough chances. We probably gave up too many chances, but I thought (Skinner) gave us a great chance to win. You have a team on the ropes, and we had a couple looks there, and you’ve got to put them down. That’s the way it goes. You have to find a way to close that one out.”
Trailing 3-1 after 40 minutes, the Devils began their comeback when Wood got his second of the night at 1:14 of the third as he beat Skinner off a faceoff for his fourth of the season.
Graves tied it with 3:15 left when his shot trickled through Skinner’s legs.
Just seven seconds later, Bratt had a breakaway and fired a shot off the post and in for his fifth of the season to put the Devils ahead. It extended Bratt’s point streak to 11 games, setting a franchise record to start a season.
“We talked about it in the second period, that good teams have to be able to come back when they are down,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “We were going to have to put a little bit more gamble in our game. There was a lot we liked in our game. I thought we left some opportunities out there early. That was just two fast teams playing incredibly fast hockey.”
Edmonton scored first at 9:20 of the opening period when Darnell Nurse’s diving defensive play created a 2-on-1 that led to Zach Hyman setting up McDavid for his NHL-leading 12th goal.
The Devils tied it 3:02 later as a turnover by the Oilers in the neutral zone led to Wood sending a quick wrist shot past Skinner.
Edmonton regained its lead 8 minutes into the second as Ryan tipped Tyson Barrie’s shot into the net for his second goal in two games.
After Blackwood came out of the game during an Oilers power play, Draisaitl got a pass from McDavid and scored his sixth on the first shot against Vanecek at 9:26. It extended Draisaitl’s point streak to six games.
HONORING THE PAST
Edmonton added Ryan Smyth and Lee Fogolin to the team’s Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony. Smyth ranks second in franchise history in games played (971), fifth in goals (296), and eighth in points (631). Fogolin was a defenseman on the Oilers’ first two Stanley Cup championship teams in 1984 and 1985.
MILESTONE
Devils D John Marino played his 200th game. Marino was originally an Oilers draft pick, but never played for them.
UP NEXT
Devils: At Calgary on Saturday night to wrap up a three-game trip.
Oilers: Host Dallas on Saturday night to finish a three-game homestand.
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