The Edmonton Oilers demolished the Nashville Predators 6-1 on Tuesday night. Leon Draistail led the way for the Oilers with a two-goal, two assists performance. This was a brutal loss for the Preds as they are 1-3-0 to start the year.
It was certainly a great time for former Predator Mattias Ekholm as he was welcomed back to the Nashville crowd.
Juuse Saros, who allowed 4 goals on 11 shots, was quickly replaced by backup goalie, Kevin Lankinen, at the start of the 2nd period. Lankinen made 17 saves on 19 shots throughout the remainder of the game.
Leon Draistail would get things going, scoring the 1st goal of the game with a power-play goal to give the Oilers a 1-0. Later on, with 13:38 left in the 1st period, Zach Hyman would have a backdoor tap-in, giving the Oilers a 2-0 lead.
Then, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gave the Oilers a 3-0 on a quick wrist shot, beating Juuse Saros past the glove. He was open for a back door tap-in and was assisted by Warren Foegele.
A few minutes later, Connor McDavid, the Oilers superstar player and number 1 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, made it 4-0 on a terrific spinning play. He went by the Predators' defense and beat Saros past the blocker.
The Oilers would walk into the locker room with all smiles while the Predators had a lot of work to do and were frustrated by their 1st period play.
In the 2nd period, Tommy Novak would finally put the Predators on the board. Unfortunately, this would be the only goal scored for Nashville.
Draisaitl scored his 2nd power-play goal of the game, passing Ryan Smyth and Glenn Anderson for the most power-play goals scored in Oilers franchise history.
In the 3rd period, no goals were scored and the Oilers would walk away with the 6-1 win. The Predators would look to regroup when they play the New York Rangers on Thursday at 6:00 P.M.
