OILERS 4 COYOTES 0
What started out as a rather tepid exhibition of hockey turned into a pre-season stage for Anton Lander, who scored three goals in the Edmonton Oilers’ 4-0 victory over the winless Arizona Coyotes. Lander, who now has five pre-season goals — one more than all of the Coyotes combined — one-timed a pass from Anton Slepyshev; banked a power-play goal off goaltender Anders Lindback; and went top shelf to register the hat trick Tuesday at Rexall Place. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins rounded out the scoring with his first of the pre-season. The Oilers will pit their unblemished pre-season record (6-0) against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday at Rexall.
SLEPYSHEV CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
Camp dark horse Anton Slepyshev logged another impressive night of work, registering a pair of assists, four hits and a blocked shot. And he’s been moving around the lineup, battling the language barrier. “He’s finding ways to contribute,” said head coach Todd McLellan. “It’s the little things he’s doing day in and day out.”
JOB SHARING
Anders Nilsson has not allowed a goal in 120 minutes of pre-season action, stopping all 53 shots he’s faced, including the 11 he turned away in his half against the Coyotes. Ben Scrivens took over midway through the second and stopped nine. “We believe we have three National Hockey League goaltenders. We knew that. We created that,” said head coach Todd McLellan, who also has Cam Talbot in the equation. “Each of them has played very well. They’re making the decisions very tough.”
PURCELL ON THE WAY BACK
After missing the bulk of training camp, Teddy Purcell was back on the ice Tuesday morning and hopes to get into at least one of the next two pre-season games. He had been pencilled in to play alongside Connor McDavid and Taylor Hall. “I’m approaching it like it’s my spot and I’m not going to let anyone take it from me,” he said. “I’m going to work hard to get back up to speed and make the best of it. “Just kind of frustrating to get hurt in the first period of the your first pre-season game, especially after coming in and feeling good in training camp. But it happens. I’m just glad I got it taken care of now.” Head coach Todd McLellan said while Purcell is getting back up to speed, that slot on the wing is still wide open.
OIL DROPS
Six-year-old superhero Mable Tooke was on hand to drop the puck, just one day after her day-long adventure, which was orchestrated by the Children’s Wish Foundation. Leon Draisaitl, who had played the first four preseason games, as well as the games in the rookie tournament, got the night off against Arizona.