Russell’s goal helps Oilers get past Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The last time Edmonton lost a road game at Florida, Connor McDavid was five years old. He’s 20 now. And he wasn’t about to let the streak end just yet.
McDavid helped set up Kris Russell’s winner with 7:58 left and the Oilers beat Florida 4-3 on Wednesday to snap the Panthers’ five-game winning streak.
“Happy that the leaders took care of a few things,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan, who lauded his team for a bounce back after a lacklustre effort Tuesday in a loss to Tampa Bay. “We got tremendous games from guys that had a lot of trouble last night.”
McDavid carried the puck into the Florida zone on the right wing before sending it over to Leon Draisaitl. He tapped it to Russell, who came down the left side almost unnoticed for what became his first goal since Feb. 11, 2016 — when he played for Calgary.
Fellow defenceman Oscar Klefbom also scored for Edmonton, as did Zack Kassian and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The Oilers played half the game without defenceman Andrej Sekera, who sustained what McLellan called a soft-tissue or muscle injury and will be evaluated again today.
“They’re playing real well right now,” Russell said of the Panthers, “and I thought we answered well.”
Aleksander Barkov, Colton Sceviour and Jonathan Marchessault scored for Florida. Keith Yandle had two assists for the Panthers, giving him 400 points for his career.
CAPITALS 4, FLYERS 1
PHILADELPHIA — Evgeny Kuznetsov scored two goals, Braden Holtby made 33 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Wednesday night.
Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie also scored for the NHL-leading Capitals, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Brayden Schenn had the lone goal for the struggling Flyers, who are 2-5 in their last seven games. Michal Neuvirth stopped 25 shots for Philadelphia.
Backstrom gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead in the first period when he scored his 18th goal. He snapped a wrist shot from the right circle and the puck fluttered over Neuvirth’s shoulder.