Oilers 3, Rangers 1
Benoit Pouliot burned his former team by collecting a goal and an assist as visiting Edmonton skated to its second straight victory.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored and set up a tally while Teddy Purcell added an empty-net goal for the Oilers, who improved to 2-2-0 on a five-game road trip that wraps up in Nashville on Tuesday. Jordan Eberle and Matt Hendricks each notched an assist while Viktor Fasth finished with 20 saves.
Carl Hagelin scored for the second straight contest and Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 30 shots for the Rangers, who have dropped four of their last five (1-2-2). New York assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson took issue with his team's performance during the second intermission, according to SNYRangers, telling a reporter "We are getting crushed by Edmonton in our building and that is embarrassing."
Signed to a five-year, $20 million deal on July 1, Pouliot accepted a nifty feed from Nugent-Hopkins and snapped a quick shot from the right faceoff circle that squeezed inside the near post at 8:29 of the second period to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead. New York showed little spark, recording its first shot of the third period at 10:56, and mustered little sustained pressure.
The Oilers drew first blood 3:19 into the contest as Eberle skated out from behind the net and fed Nugent-Hopkins, who shoveled the puck past Lundqvist. New York answered at 12:34 of the first period as Hagelin's sharp-angle shot from deep in the right circle deflected off the skate of Edmonton defenseman Jeff Petry and past Fasth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Edmonton captain Andrew Ference finished with a plus-3 rating in his return to the lineup after serving a three-game suspension. ... Oilers C Mark Arcobello saw his modest two-game goal-scoring streak come to an end, but the Yale product won 10-of-14 faceoffs and registered a team-high four hits. ... Edmonton failed on all three of its power-play opportunities to drop to 1-for-25 in its last seven contests.