Oilers hit milestone in win over Sharks
EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Oilers scored their 10,000th NHL goal en route to a 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks Monday at Rogers Place.
The game marked the first game between the Sharks and Oilers since the teams collided in the first round of the 2017 playoffs, with Edmonton winning that series in six games.
Oilers goalie Cam Talbot won his second in a row since returning from a stint on injured reserve, making 18 saves. Sharks goalie Martin Jones remained stuck on 99 career wins. The Oilers got 29 shots on goal.
The Sharks took the lead at 6:15 of the first period. On the power play, Joe Pavelski wristed home a rebound off a point shot from Kevin Labanc.
The Oilers tied it at 14:42, as Mark Letestu one-timed a pass from Leon Draisaitl.
Edmonton took the lead with 1:09 left in the period, thanks to a tic-tac-toe passing play, with Jujhar Khaira feeding Draisaitl, who pushed the puck across the goalmouth for Ryan Strome to put in past a helpless Jones.
Strome's goal was the 10,000th for the Oilers since the team joined the NHL in 1979. But a disclaimer: That total includes 65 shootout winners.
Six minutes into the second, the Oilers had a series of great chances to extend the lead, but Jones robbed Jesse Puljujarvi twice and then stoned Connor McDavid for good measure in a frantic 10-second sequence. But while Jones closed the door on the Oilers, he couldn't stop his own team. On the next shift, he was beaten by his teammate, Pavelski, who inadvertently tipped in what was meant to be a centering attempt from Oiler Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Tomas Hertl made it 3-2 at 8:32.
Maroon got the Oilers their two-goal lead back, making it 4-2 at 8:23 of the third with a blast over Jones's shoulder. But Marcus Sorensen made it a nailbiter at 11:58, as he was able to wrap the puck around Talbot's outstretched pad.
Strome got an empty netter with 7.6 seconds left.
NOTES: Sharks C Logan Couture was out with a concussion suffered in Friday's overtime loss to Vancouver; he leads the Sharks with 15 goals and 26 points ... The Sharks moved LW Mikkel Boedker from injured reserve to the roster ahead of Monday's game. Boedker hadn't played since Dec. 1 ... Edmonton activated D Adam Larsson from injured reserve before the game. Larsson had been out since Nov. 30 ...To make room for Larsson, RW Anton Slepyshev was assigned the the Oilers' AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif. ... The Oilers scratched D Eric Gryba, D Yohann Auvitu and LW Mike Cammalleri. ... The Sharks scratched D Paul Martin and RW Jannik Hansen.