Energized Oilers end road trip with win in Boston

BOSTON Skate, check. Score, check.

Win, check.

All the boxes were filled Sunday by the Edmonton Oilers who were full measure for their purposeful 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins to end their five-game road trip with a 2-3 record.

Ryan Strome beat Tuukku Rask under the cross-bar for the winner early in the third and Leon Draisaitl added another into an empty net.

Adam Larsson and Patrick Maroon got the others for the Oilers while David Pastrnak and David Krejci scored on Cam Talbot, who was playing his 200th NHL game.

In the second, the Oilers outshot the Bruins 17-5 for a 27-11 advantage over 40 minutes, plus they had twice as many chances (13-6) in that time, but it was somehow tied 2-2.

Such have been their struggles this season.

Maroon, who had a hat trick here last Jan. 5 on Rask, and two more in an earlier 7-4 romp at Rogers Place, got his sixth in the last three games when he came off the bench on a line change to to equalize the Bruins first-period score.

Then Adam Larsson’s screened shot hit Charlie McAvoy’s skate and it skipped past Rask — it was originally credited to Milan Lucic — to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead, but 70 seconds later ex-Oilers firstround draft Riley Nash helped tie it. Nash wheeled wide on Kris Russell and his feed found the hardcharging Krejci who had beaten Mark Letestu and Yohann Auvitu to the net to lift it past Talbot.

The Oilers also had lots of jump in the opening period, after never getting it out of first gear in Buffalo Friday until late in the game with their goalie pulled. But they allowed a Bruins’ power play goal, their first in six games since Brad Marchand went out with a concussion.

Pastrnak worked a toe-drag on Oscar Klefbom and his 25-footer skipped off Talbot’s glove and into the net.

ON THE BENCH: Zdeno Chara was in Connor McDavid’s face all game and spilled the Oilers’ captain to get a penalty which brought Maroon over. They fought last season, but no scrap this time around ... The Oilers sat Eric Gryba, who went to Boston U, and Jesse Puljujarvi, along with injured Jujhar Khaira (groin).