Oilers slip by Panthers
Kris Russell scored the third goal of the night by Edmonton’s defensemen with 7:58 left, lifting the Oilers over Florida, 4-3, last night to snap the Panthers’ five-game winning streak in Sunrise, Fla.
Russell’s goal was his first since Feb. 11, 2016, when he played for Calgary. He went goalless in his first 48 games with the Oilers.
Fellow defensemen Oscar Klefbom and Eric Gryba also scored for Edmonton, as did forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Connor McDavid, who came into the night leading the NHL scoring race, had an assist on Russell’s goal.
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.
Cam Talbot stopped 31 shots for the Oilers, who have won their last eight games at Florida — last losing on the Panthers’ ice in 2002. James Reimer made 31 saves for the Panthers, who just completed a 5-0-0 road trip.
The Panthers trailed for 93 seconds on their fivegame road trip. They trailed for the final 14:42 of the first period alone in this one, after Klefbom’s unassisted goal opened the scoring.
From there, the trend of the night emerged: Edmonton would lead, and Florida would come back. It worked three times — but not a fourth.
Florida knotted the game on a power-play goal from Barkov 21 seconds into the second period. Gryba made it 2-1 midway through the second, only to have Sceviour answer five minutes later. And just when it seemed like Edmonton would take a 3-2 lead into the third period, the Oilers quickly gave the advantage back.
Nugent-Hopkins’ goal off a rebound with 1:01 left in the second gave Edmonton its third lead, but Matt Hendricks was whistled for holding five seconds later. And just as it did to start the period, Florida finished the second by cashing in on the man advantage with Marchessault scoring with four seconds left to send the teams into the final 20 minutes tied yet again.
The two leading scorers in NHL history were at the game — No. 1 Wayne Gretzky appeared on the Panthers’ telecast during the first intermission, and No. 2 Jaromir Jagr was on the ice for Florida.
Capitals 4, Flyers 1 — Evgeny Kuznetsov scored two goals, Braden Holtby made 33 saves and NHL-best Washington snapped a twogame slide by beating host Philadelphia.
Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie also scored for the Capitals.
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.
The Flyers’ Jakub Voracek appeared to score 23 seconds into the game, but Capitals coach Barry Trotz challenged the goal and it was overturned because Dale Weise interfered with Holtby. Philadelphia had another goal disallowed in the second period when a video review determined Ivan Provorov’s slap shot hit the crossbar and didn’t go in despite the light going off.
Elsewhere in the NHL — Jarome Iginla’s teammates are rooting for him to pack his bags and leave town. Nothing personal, of course, they just want the charismatic Colorado Avalanche forward to be traded for what might be his final shot at a Stanley Cup title.
Iginla, 39, is receptive to a deal ahead of the March 1 trade deadline. He’s even spoken with general manager Joe Sakic about the situation, since the Avs are well out of the playoff picture.