Boedker's hat trick powers Sharks past Oilers
EDMONTON, Alberta -- The battle for first place in the Pacific Division didn't last very long Tuesday in Edmonton.
Aside from a few tense minutes early in the third period, it was all San Jose Sharks in a 5-3 victory over the Oilers at Rogers Arena.
Winger Mikkel Boedker, who had three goals all season, scored three in the first two periods to give the Sharks a lead they would never relinquish.
But the Oilers made them work for it, launching a fierce rally in the third period to turn a blowout into a nail biter. Defenseman Matt Benning put a wrist shot past Jones at 22 seconds and defenseman Oscar Klefbom cut the deficit to 4-3 on a point shot at 3:45.
But San Jose's Logan Couture stopped the bleeding with a breakaway goal at 5:06.
Boedker had three goals on his first three shots, scoring at 1:39 of the first period and 2:24 and 8:55 of the second. It was Boedker's fourth career hat trick and second against the Oilers.
Brent Burns also scored in the first period for the Sharks, who led 2-1 after one period and 4-1 after two.
Drake Caggiula scored Edmonton's goal in the first period.
Edmonton pressed hard in the second period and outshot San Jose 16-8, but couldn't anything by goaltender Martin Jones, who was named to the Pacific Division All-Star team.
The first-place Sharks (25-14-2) seem to have righted their ship, winning two straight after dropping three in a row to open a three-point lead on Edmonton.
The Oilers, who have one of the best road records in the NHL (12-7-5), can't seem to get any momentum going in their new arena. They fell to 9-8-2 at Rogers.
NOTES: The Oilers placed G Jonas Gustavsson on waivers for the purpose of reassignment after he gave up four goals on 17 shots Sunday in Ottawa. The Oilers outshot the Senators 38-18 and lost 5-3 with an empty-netter. ... Edmonton also assigned rookie Jesse Puljujarvi, the fourth pick overall last summer, to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. He'd been a healthy scratch 14 times in the first 41 games. ... Oilers LW Pat Maroon already has a career high 16 goals on the season. His previous best was 11. ... The Oilers recalled RW Anton Slepyshev from Bakersfield. ... Sharks C Tomas Hertl, whose been out two months with a knee injury, is skating again and could be ready to return by the first week of February. ... D Marc-Edouard Vlasic returned to the San Jose lineup after missing four games while recovering from a puck in the face. ... San Jose C Joe Thornton has 42 shots in his first 41 games, a big reason why he only has two goals. ... San Jose is eight points ahead of where it was at the halfway mark last season, when it advanced to the Stanley Cup final.