Russell's 3rd-period goal pushes Oilers past Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Defenseman Kris Russell scored the go-ahead goal as the Edmonton Oilers ended the Florida Panthers' five-game win streak with a 4-3 victory on Wednesday night at the BB&T Center.
Russell's goal, his first of the season, came with 12:02 left in the third period. Leon Draisaitl earned the primary assist, dishing the puck to his left on the rush.
The secondary assist went to Oilers star Connor McDavid, who earned his 68th point of the season. He leads the NHL in points. He also has four points in two games, both wins, over Florida this season, including a go-ahead goal and a go-ahead assist.
Edmonton (33-20-8) was led in goal by Cam Talbot, who made 31 saves.
James Reimer took the loss for the Panthers (28-21-10), who are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games. Reimer, Florida's backup, is 6-1-1 in his past eight starts.
Florida never led in the game but tied Edmonton three times. The Panthers' power play, which produced two goals in two tries, kept Florida in the game. Florida's Keith Yandle and Jussi Jokinen each had two assists.
Panthers All-Star center Vincent Trocheck had his six-game point streak snapped but still leads Florida in goals (21) and points (42).
Edmonton opened the scoring 5:18 into the first period. Oscar Klefbom scored his 11th of the season, hammering a slap shot from just inside the blue line. The goal was unassisted as the puck came to Klefbom after a failed Florida clearing attempt.
Florida tied the score 1-1 with just 21 seconds elapsed in the second period. Aleksander Barkov scored on a power play, his 15th goal of the season. After a shot by Aaron Ekblad was blocked, Jokinen jumped on the rebound and shoveled a quick pass to Barkov, who beat Talbot glove-side.
That was the first of five goals in the second period.
Edmonton went ahead 2-1 at 10:26 on Eric Gryba's second goal of the season. Mark Letestu and Kris Russell earned assists.
Florida tied the score at 15:53 on a goal by Colton Sceviour, who set up in the slot and received another key pass from Jokinen.
Edmonton went up 3-2 at 18:59 on a goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who crashed the net and knocked in a loose puck.
However, Florida's power play came through again to tie the score 3-3. This time, it was Jonathan Marchessault, who took a pass from Yandle and scored with just four seconds left in the wild second period.
NOTES: The NHL's No. 1 and No. 2 players in terms of career points where at the BB&T Center on Wednesday. Retired star Wayne Gretzky was there as a fan and RW Jaromir Jagr is still active as a Panthers player. ... Florida scratched C Greg McKegg and D Jakub Kindl. ... Edmonton scratched D Adam Larsson and LW Anton Slepyshev. ... Florida is coming off the first 5-0-0 road trip in franchise history. ... This was the start of a four-game Panthers homestand. It also began a string of eight out of nine Florida home games. ... Oilers C Connor McDavid, who turned 20 last month, is the youngest team captain in NHL history. Earlier this season, he reached 100 career points in just 92 games. Only three players in NHL history have reached 100 faster. ... Edmonton plays at the Washington Capitals on Friday. ... Florida plays host to the Calgary Flames.