Vancouver Canucks Pius Suter looks for a shot against Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner (74) during first period NHL pre-season action in Edmonton on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken
EDMONTON – Leon Draisaitl scored the shootout winner as the Edmonton Oilers won their second straight pre-season game, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Monday.
Corey Perry and Ben Gleason also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 3-3 in exhibition action.
Arshdeep Bains and Nate Smith replied for the Canucks (2-2-1) who have lost three in a row.
There was no scoring in a rather relaxed first period, with Edmonton putting 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 as Kiefer Sherwood made a nice pass from the side of the net out to Bains, who unleashed a bullet before Skinner could get across.
Edmonton almost responded a few minutes later as Perry was sent in alone, but he was unable to deke his way 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 as Perry swept out in front of the net and made a nice move and got the puck behind Lankinen this time.
Edmonton surged ahead on the power play midway through the third as Connor McDavid sent it back to Gleason who sent a hard wrist shot into the net with Viktor Arvidsson providing a screen in front.
However, Vancouver answered back just 19 seconds later as Smith deftly redirected a Kirill Kudryavtsev shot through Skinner’s legs, eventually sending the game to extra time.
Vancouver had a wide-open net to shoot for 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 a PTO on Monday, and the Canucks did likewise with PTO invite Sammy Blais “¦ The Oilers are down to 36 players (five injured) in camp and are hoping to trim to 27 players before the team’s final two pre-season games. Defenceman 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 on Saturday against Seattle “¦ Vancouver star forward J.T. Miller has skated all camp, but has yet to suit up for a game, while defenceman Quinn Hughes has played just one.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Host the Oilers on Friday.
Oilers: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2024.
